May 19, 2020

Blue Box Program Transition Plan
Consultation Webinars Rescheduled

Dear Blue Box stakeholders,
 
We hope everyone continues to stay safe and healthy.
 
As you know, the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks directed Stewardship Ontario to wind up the Blue Box Program and develop a Transition Plan whereby stewards will be made fully responsible for both the funding and operation of residential recycling in the province under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016.  

A s per the recent  Minister's extension  letter , the Transition Plan is to be submitted to the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) by August 31, 2020. The Minister anticipates RPRA will approve the plan no later than December 31, 2020.
 
The April Blue Box Program Transition Plan consultation webinars that were postponed due to the evolving COVID-19 situation have been rescheduled to June 16 and 17, 2020.
 
We will be hosting three webinar consultations, focused primarily on matters affecting specific stakeholder groups during transition:

Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Steward community
10:00 - 11:30 a.m.

Municipalities, First Nation communities and the waste management industry
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.

Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Environment non-government organizations and other stakeholders
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.

The consultation webinars will be an opportunity to review and comment on how Stewardship  Ontario intends to implement the Minister's direction outlined in his August 15, 2019  letter , including: 
  • Demonstrating transparency and meaningful consultation;
  • Supporting competition and preventing conflict of interest;
  • Demonstrating fairness to stewards and protecting consumers; and
  • Maintaining program performance.
Other matters of interest to be presented include:
  • The proposed process and timelines for transition and related costs;
  • The proposed approach to ensure continuity of funding for municipalities;
  • Anticipated changes to the method Stewardship Ontario is proposing to determine steward fees during transition; and
  • How reserve funds will be applied to offset transition costs and steward fees. 
Your involvement and feedback will be essential as we work towards finalizing the Blue Box Program Transition Plan. 

We look forward to you joining us in June. You can contact us with questions at [email protected] .