Ontario Tire Regulation Removes Promotion and Education, and Visible Fees Requirements

The Ontario government has amended the following four regulations under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 (RRCEA) to remove promotion and education requirements related to visible resource recovery fees:

• Tires Regulation (O. Reg. 225/18)
• Batteries Regulation (O. Reg. 30/20)
• Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) Regulation (O. Reg. 522/20)
• Hazardous and Special Products (HSP) Regulation (O. Reg. 449/21)

No changes have been made to the Blue Box Regulation as it does not have promotion and education requirements related to visible fees.

Businesses will continue to have discretion over whether they charge a fee to recover the cost of recycling their products. However, with this amendment, if they charge a fee, they are no longer required to provide information about who is charging the visible fee and what it will be used for.

The government also made amendments to the Administrative Penalties Regulation (O. Reg. 558/22) under the RRCEA to remove contraventions related to the promotion and education requirements for visible fees.

The amended regulations come into effect today, March 20, 2023.

Effective immediately, RPRA’s compliance bulletin Charging Tire Fees to Consumers is revoked and RPRA has ceased its enforcement of promotion and education requirements for visible fees across all materials.

Consumers continue to be protected from false, misleading, or deceptive information related to fees by Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act. Consumers who believe that the purpose of a visible resource recovery fee is being misrepresented should contact the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery directly at 1-800-889-9768.

Source: RPRA