Overview of the Federal Plastics Registry

The Notice with respect to reporting of plastic resins and certain plastic products for the Federal Plastics Registry for 2024, 2025 and 2026 (the “Notice”) was published, in the Canadian Gazette on April 20, 2024. The Notice established the Federal Plastics Registry (the “Registry”) which requires companies to report annually on the quantity and types of plastic manufactured, imported and placed on the Canadian market. It also requires generators of packaging and plastic waste at industrial, commercial and institutional premises, as well as service providers who collect and manage those wastes, to report to the Registry. Reporting is mandatory, and companies that fail to meet their reporting requirements could face significant penalties.

Who is Required to Report?

These reporting obligations will be phased in over three years, with Phase 1 covering calendar year 2024. On December 31, 2024, the Government of Canada published a guide (the “Guidance”) on Registry – Phase 1. The Guidance focuses on Phase 1 reporting requirements, offering guidance on who must report, which materials are covered by the Notice, what information needs to be reported for each material category and how to calculate material volumes for the purposes of reporting. The Notice applies to:

• A person who manufactures, imports, and places plastic resins as listed in Schedule 1, Part 1 and Part 2 of the Notice on the market in Canada^[1]; 
• A person who is a producer of plastic products as listed in Schedule 1, Part 3 or Part 4 of the notice;
• A person who is a generator of packaging and plastic product waste at their industrial, commercial, or institutional facility; and  
• A person who is a service provider for the management of plastics or plastic products listed in Schedule 1, Part 3 or Part 4 of the Notice, including chemical recycling, composting, landfilling, and various incineration activities.

Phase 1 applies to a producer of plastic products, the definition of producer is quite broad and includes those who import, manufacture, and place plastic packaging or plastic products on the market in Canada such as brand owners, importers, manufacturers, retailers, marketplace facilitators or sellers. In Phase 1 these producers of plastic packaging, electronic and electrical equipment and single-use or disposable plastic products that are destined for residential waste streams are required to submit their first annual report no later than September 29^th, 2025.

Phase 2 will extend reporting obligations for calendar year 2025 to additional categories of products such as textiles and apparel and will start covering quantity of plastic waste generated at a facility. Phase 2 will apply not only to products destined for the residential waste stream but also those destined for the industrial, commercial, and institutional waste stream and to the construction, demolition, or renovation waste stream. This reporting will be due in September 2026.

Phase 3, due in September 2027 and covering the calendar year 2026, will require further reporting on plastics collected and sent for diversion and disposal in more categories. Future reporting requirements for Phase 4 are expected to be introduced by an additional Government notice.

Information to Declare

In Phase 1, entities that import, manufacture, or distribute packaging, electronic and electrical equipment, and single-use disposable plastic products must report the total quantity in kilograms of plastic packaging and products by resin, resin source, category, and subcategory destined for the residential waste stream from the 2024 calendar year. The Guide stipulates that obligated persons must provide information that is “reasonably accessible”. This means that companies are expected to report data they possess or can reasonably obtain from within their supply chain.

Information for the Registry will be collected and published in accordance with subsection 46(1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (“CEPA”) and will be posted to the Directive on Open Government and the Directive on Service and Digital to provide data that can easily be accessed. Persons that submit data to the Registry will be able to request confidentiality in the online reporting platform and will be required to provide a rationale as to why data is considered confidential.

Who is exempt from reporting

While the Notice covers a broad range of activities, it includes a specific exemption that can help businesses determine their reporting obligations. Companies that manufacture, import, or market less than 1,000 kg of plastic products or packaging per calendar year are not required to report.

This exemption pertains to the total combined weight of packaging and plastic manufactured, imported, and marketed. The de minimis threshold applies solely to the quantity of plastic within an item and is not based on the overall weight of the item itself.

Furthermore, de minimis calculations and reporting must be based on national data. For instance, if an entity operates in five provinces, the total number for determining a de minimis exemption will be calculated by summing the totals from operations across all five provinces, even if the individual provincial operations do not exceed 1000 kg.

We’re here to help

McCarthy Tétrault’s National Environmental Group is advising clients across all industries and sectors on how to respond to reporting obligations under CEPA. Please feel free to reach out to our team with any questions to help you determine your company’s specific reporting obligations, including extension requests, meeting reporting requirements and confidentiality claims.

^[1] See Appendix 1 for Resin types