Recycling and disposal of toxic substances listed to the Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations, 2025
This factsheet provides information related to the recycling and disposal of toxic substances, and products that contain them regulated under the Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations, 2012, which will be repealed and replaced by the Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations, 2025, on June 30, 2026.
These Regulations prohibit the manufacture, use, sale, or import of certain toxic substances, as well as products containing them, with a limited number of exemptions. These substances are among the most harmful to human health and/or the environment.
Disclaimer
This information has been prepared for convenience of reference only and is not to be understood as a legal document. This information does not supersede or modify any act, regulations or legal obligation, including an obligation to comply under any instruments referred to under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.
Recycling
While obligations differ between jurisdictions, Environment and Climate Change Canada supports efforts to divert waste from landfills and promote a circular economy for products. Canada is a Party to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) [Stockholm Convention]. Under the Stockholm Convention, Parties are not permitted to allow waste containing listed POPs to be subject to disposal operations that may lead to recovery, recycling, reclamation, direct reuse or alternative uses of those POPs unless the POPs are destroyed or irreversibly transformed.
As such, under the Regulations, which is one of the principal tools for implementing the Stockholm Convention in Canada, manufacturing a product using a recyclable material that contains a substance subject to the Regulations is prohibited. Using, selling, offering for sale or importing a recycled product that contains a listed substance is also prohibited. In both cases, these activities are not prohibited if the substance is incidentally present, or another exemption applies.
Please consult the Regulations to see if an exemption applies to your activities.
Disposal
Since prohibited toxic substances pose a risk to the environment and/or human health, best environmental practices and available technologies should be used during all life cycle stages. These substances, as well as products containing them, should be disposed of at an authorized hazardous waste management facility or in another environmentally sound manner.
In Canada, as a rule, provinces and territories are responsible for the approval, licensing and permitting of disposal facilities. The prohibited toxic substances, and products containing them, should therefore be disposed of according to all relevant waste management requirements. We recommend that you contact the relevant local provincial or territorial authorities to find out more about applicable requirements for safe disposal.
If you intend to ship hazardous waste and hazardous recyclable material across Canada’s boundaries, other regulations may apply. Please see the Cross-border Movement of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Materials Regulations for more information.
The Basel Convention has adopted technical guidelines on POPs waste, which provide guidance on their environmentally sound management, including how to dispose of them properly. For further information on the environmentally sound disposal of these wastes, please refer to the General technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing, or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants - Basel.int webpage.
Compliance with the Regulations
The measures that you are required to take to ensure compliance depend on your activities. To determine whether your product, material or waste stream contains a prohibited substance, you should review safety data sheets (SDS), contact your supplier or manufacturer and/or conduct laboratory testing.
Related information
- Overview of the Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations, 2025
- The Cross-border Movement of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations
- Link to the websites of provincial and territorial environmental authorities
- Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and aqueous film-forming foam used in firefighting
Contact us
Chemicals Management Division
Environment and Climate Change Canada
351 Saint-Joseph Blvd 10th floor
Gatineau QC K1A 0H3
Email: interdiction-prohibition@ec.gc.ca
Substances Management Information Line:
- 1-800-567-1999 (Toll free in Canada)
- 1-819-938-3232 (Outside of Canada)