Who We Are

Our Vision

To become the Canadian leader in the delivery of responsible product stewardship programs.

Our Mission

To lead the way through rigorous and innovative management to develop, implement and continuously improve recycling programs that are both environmentally and economically sustainable.

Our Mandate

To develop, implement and operate recycling programs, namely Ontario’s Blue Box and MHSW programs.

At Stewardship Ontario, we believe in sustainability. With today’s economic and environmental challenges, it is imperative that we make sustainable solutions our number one priority. We’re committed to a strong vision that drives our business forward and enables us to deliver recycling programs that contribute to a more sustainable Ontario.

Accountability

Stewardship Ontario is a private, not-for-profit organization that develops, funds and operates Ontario’s highly successful recycling programs for printed paper and packaging (Blue Box) and household hazardous and special waste (Orange Drop).

We collect fees from stewards – the first importers, manufacturers, or brand owners of materials that end up in curbside blue boxes or that are classified as household hazardous and special waste. Steward fees help to pay for the costs of collecting, transporting, recycling and disposing safely of products and packaging throughout the province. Both the Blue Box and Orange Drop program plans and fees are subject to public consultation prior to approval by Waste Diversion Ontario. Similarly, these program plans are submitted to the EBR process prior to approval by the Ministry of the Environment.

Materials managed in our programs must meet collection, recycling and consumer accessibility targets. Our results are reported quarterly to Waste Diversion Ontario, our regulator. Third-party audited financial statements are produced annually and included in our Annual Report which are publicly available online.

As a stewardship organization we audit Ontario businesses that sell designated materials into the marketplace to ensure proper reporting and ensure that responsibility is shared among all companies who produce these materials.

We have environmental standards that all our service providers must meet and we audit to those standards.

Governance

Stewardship Ontario has a rigorous governance framework in place. We have a competency-based board of directors comprised of lawyers, accountants, CEOs, marketers, and human resource, supply chain and public affairs professionals from large, medium and small companies across a wide-variety of industries. This cross-section of competencies is consistent with the needs of an organization operating programs that are well-run, world-class and good for the environment.