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Frequently asked questions for ecodesign and recyclability

Ecodesign Guidelines

The best packaging is the one that fulfills its function and meets the needs of the product, while having the lowest environmental impact.

To achieve this, the right amount of material must be used to ensure the proper protection of the product while avoiding overpackaging. It’s a matterof compromise.

Reduction, procurement and recyclability are the three ecodesign strategies on which you should base your choice of the best packaging.

For more information, see our Packaging Ecodesign Guidelines.

Use the Packaging Recyclability Guidelines (PRG) which provide specific guidance for multiple packaging materials.

They highlight design statements that are classified as preferable when they do not raise any issues during sorting, processing and recycling, detrimental if they complicate recyclability or render the packaging non-recyclable.

To learn more, see our Packaging Recyclability Guidelines.

The guidelines enable you to evaluate your packaging independently. They make it easier to identify concrete courses of action to ensure their proper design and recyclability. The guidelines are practical guides to be used when selecting packaging from a supplier, improving existing packaging or designing new packaging.

To find out more, see our Packaging Ecodesign Guidelines and our Packaging Recyclability Guidelines.

As a producer, Éco Entreprises Québec provides you with consulting services to guide you in your packaging and printed paper selection and design process.

Our services can also be adapted to manufacturers, suppliers, packaging distributors or agencies and other players in the producers’ value chain.

In concrete terms, we can: 

  1. Answer your questions about packaging ecodesign and recyclability;

  2. Help you better understand and apply our guides and tools;

  3. Validate and discuss the evaluation of your packaging if you use our Packaging Ecodesign and Recyclability Guidelines.

To find out more, contact us at ecoconception@eeq.ca 

Our services are available to producers who meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • Be subject to Regulation on curbside recycling (EPR) and registered with ÉEQ;

  • Be compliant: have signed the membership contract, submitted their last report of materials and paid their Producers’ Financial Participation (PFP) within the prescribed deadlines, when applicable;

  • Not be in a dispute or other precarious situation.

Quebec’s composting infrastructure is designed to process organic materials and not to manage compostable packaging. Since compostable plastic packaging does not necessarily degrade at the same rate as organic materials and does not add value to compost (nutrients), it is removed and sent to landfill.

In addition, the resemblance between recyclable plastics and those identified as compostable confuses people, which leads to sorting errors and contamination problems in the recycling channel.

It is also important to note that Polylactic acid (PLA) and other degradable plastics are targeted by a malus fee.

To learn more, see our Report on Biodegradable and Compostable Plastic Packaging.

Yes, the Ecodesign Bonus pilot project under the 2021–2025 Schedule of Contributions provided valuable insights and led to substantial improvements to the program’s terms and conditions. These changes have been in effect since the 2026 reporting to support producers committed to ecodesigning their packaging and printed papers.

The Ecodesign Bonus is now based on six ecodesign actions grouped under three ecodesign strategies (reduction, sourcing, and recyclability). Each action is associated with a potential bonus percentage on the PFP of the targeted container, packaging, or printed paper.

For more information, visit the Ecomodulation page.

Éco Entreprises Québec has instituted a penalty (or malus) – a financial measure aimed at discouraging the choice of materials that do not have a recycling channel, or that disrupt the collection, sorting, processing or recycling of other materials – by imposing a penalty on the financial participation.

Penalties have therefore been introduced in the 2024 Schedule of contribution for the following materials: polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polylactic acid (PLA) and other degradable plastics.

For more information, see the page on Ecomodulation.

No. Cardboard can be a good choice in some cases, but not in others. This is also true for plastics, whose uses must be thought out according to the protection and conservation needs of the product and the use scenario.

That’s why you first need to know your product well when choosing a packaging material. Next, it is important to assess the life cycle of the packaging-product pairing by including the procurement, manufacturing, distribution, use and end-of-life stages.

To find out more, consult the Ecodesign guide for agency packaging.

Éco Entreprises Québec can advise you on the development of appropriate communications regarding the ecodesign of your packaging, for example, its recyclability using sorting instructions.

The important thing is to choose the relevant information to communicate to consumers, to base this information on facts, to avoid ambiguities and to comply with the laws and standards in force!

For more information, see the Reference Guide for Packaging Ecodesign Communication.

Recyclability Guidelines

Éco Entreprises Québec wanted to address your concerns about recyclability as producers. The PRGs are intended to provide an accessible and useful reference guide for you to assess the recyclability of your packaging to help you make better choices.

This guide will also help you better understand the collection, sorting, processing and recycling processes, as well as the problems that your packaging can pose at each of these stages.

In addition to supporting you in the packaging selection and design process, the objectives of the PRGs are to:

  • Ensure that the packaging materials you market are compatible with the recycling channels that are being developed;
  • Increase the quality and value of recovered materials;
  • Promote the achievement of the recovery and recycling targets set out in the Regulation respecting a system of selective collection for certain residual materials, CQLR c Q-2, r 46.01 (SC Regulation).

The PRGs were developed following an analysis of a multitude of international guides on the recyclability of packaging. Éco Entreprises Québec was accompanied by Lichens, a firm of external consultant specializing in recyclability, with the support of the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) in the drafting of the PRGs.

Various experts, such as research centres, sorting centres, packers and recyclers, were also consulted to ensure that the content was adapted to the Quebec and Canadian context.

The proposed definition of recyclability is based on four characteristics: ecodesigned packaging, collected in the recovery bin, sorted at a sorting centre and recycled through an established market.

  1. The way the packaging will be designed is the first factor to consider to increase its potential for recyclability at the end of its life. Reduction, procurement and recyclability are the three ecodesign strategies to consider.
  2. Packaging must then be collected in the recovery bin in order to be diverted from waste. This task is facilitated by information, awareness-raising and education campaigns, sorting instructions on packaging and by residents adopting best sorting practices.
  3. In sorting centres, packaging must be able to be sorted using different technologies in order to produce bales of recovered materials that meet the needs and standards of the industry.
  4. Finally, the recycling of baled materials will depend on processors and recyclers who use state-of-the-art technologies that meet the standards of established markets. In addition, the availability and quality of materials, as well as the demand for recycled content and the price, will guarantee the recycling of the materials.

Having a general understanding of curbside recycling allows you to make more informed choices and prevent potential issues that could be caused by your packaging.

The PRGs illustrate in a simplified and comprehensive way the curbside recycling process and the journey of packaging during the sorting, processing and recycling stages.

The guide also outlines the challenges posed by various packaging characteristics in terms of the actual impact at the different stages of the process.

With Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), producers are at the heart of the curbside recycling system and have full responsibility for the packaging they place on the market, from design to recycling.

By providing specific guidance for many packaging materials, the PRGs aim to increase the recyclability potential and improve the quality of materials recovered in the curbside recycling system.

Packaging characteristics and material combinations are evaluated to determine their level of impact on curbside recycling.

The PRGs are divided into packaging material types and include design statements that qualify as preferable when they do not raise any issues during sorting, processing and recycling, detrimental if they complicate recyclability or render the packaging non-recyclable.

With curbside recycling being modernized in Quebec, recycling infrastructure will be developed and new recycling channels will be established.

The PRGs will be updated in line with this evolution and with knowledge about packaging materials. Therefore, a precise frequency has not been determined.

At the moment, the guidelines cover packaging of rigid PET, HDPE and PP, flexible PE, paper/cardboard, aluminium, ferrous metals and glass.

These materials were chosen because they make up the vast majority of packaging on the market and also because international guides on recyclability provide a collection of knowledge on the topic.

Some materials, such as PVC, PVDC and PLA (and other degradable plastics), will not be added because their use is discouraged and they are subject to a penalty.

On the other hand, other materials, such as flexible PP, as well as types of packaging such as laminated fibre materials and printed matter, are likely to be added in the future.

For more information, see the Malus Guide

The Recyclability Guidelines are a non-prescriptive guide designed to help you improve the performance of your packaging in the current curbside recycling system.

However, the PRGs cannot be used for marketing or certification purposes, or to declare that a package complies with them.

Developed by the Consumer Goods Forum, the Golden Design Rules for Plastics Packaging have been adapted for Canada by the Canadian Plastic Pact (CPP). The Golden Rules include nine general statements with the objective of reducing the amount of plastic packaging and making it easier to recycle.

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) is a North American organization that aims to improve plastic recycling.

The The APR Design® Guide for Plastics Recycling provides a framework for packaging design and comprehensive testing protocols to measure every aspect of a package’s design against industry-recognized criteria. This more technical approach is aimed at engineers and other packaging specialists.

Éco Entreprises Québec’s Ecodesign and Packaging Recyclability Guidelines are aligned with the Golden Design Rules and are based on the APR Design® Guide. They are intended to increase the adoption of ecodesign, maximize recyclability and meet provincial packaging recovery and recycling targets.

As the first producer responsibility organization (EPR) in North America to publish guidelines, Éco Entreprises Québec has capitalized on its expertise and field experience to create non-prescriptive and comprehensive reference guides.

In addition to plastic, the guidelines also include other packaging materials: paper and cardboard, metals and glass.

Our Packaging Ecodesign Guidelines can help you take into account environmental, social and economic criteria in a comprehensive approach, while maintaining the roles and functions of packaging.

To demystify ecodesign, understand its importance and understand how to incorporate it into your practices, you can consult the ecodesign guidelines. In addition to recyclability, this guide offers two additional strategies, namely reduction and procurement, as well as many examples of possible actions.

Bonus - General questions

Eco-design is a holistic approach that takes environmental, social, and economic criteria into account during the design phase of packaging or printed materials, while maintaining their utility (roles and functions). For more information, please visit our Ecodesign section.

Please check with your purchasing/sourcing, product development, R&D or marketing departments. The person responsible for one of these departments may be able to complete the bonus request form. Please note that the person submitting the bonus request must be registered as first respondent or secondary respondent with Éco Entreprises Québec.

If you are not registered as secondary contact, you may submit the request.

Yes, a producer may submit multiple bonus applications for ecodesigned containers, packaging, and printed papers introduced to the market during the reference year, provided that the ecodesign actions are different, up to a cumulative bonus of maximum $100,000.

It is not possible to exceed this amount for a single application since the maximum limit of the ecodesign incentive bonus is set at $50,000 per application. However, a producer can submit multiple applications and obtain a maximum cumulative bonus of $100,000.

Bonus - Eligibility Questions

Some ecodeisgn actions have a bonus percentage of 20%, while others have a bonus percentage of 5%. Those with a higher bonus percentage are specifically referenced in the Regulation on curbside collection (RLRQ c Q-2, r 46.01).

Certain actions may be eligible for a bonus every year because they involve recurring costs for the producer on an annual basis. This new provision is therefore intended to make the bonus more effective for producers and thus encourage them to adopt ecodesign practices.

Actions that are eligible only in the first full year of marketing—such as reducing mass or volume and improving recyclability—already result in a reduction of a producer’s PFP on an annual basis. Indeed, the weight of packaging is a significant factor in determining the amount to be paid. Furthermore, improved recyclability is expected to have a more significant impact on the eco-modulation of rates in the coming years.

Yes, the following materials are not eligible:

  • Cork and wood
  • Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
  • Polylactic acid (PLA) and other degradable plastics
  • Ceramic and porcelain
  • Reusable natural fiber bags
  • Reusable synthetic fiber bags
  • Business-to-business packaging

Yes, printed papers and aerosol containers are now eligible. For more details, please refer to the Ecodesign Bonus Guide.

Yes, companies that are qualified as small producers are eligible to the Ecodesign Bonus, provided that they have submitted a detailed report of their materials. Producers that opt for the simplified report (fixed rate fee structure) are not eligible to the Ecodesign Bonus.

No, the Ecodesign Bonus applies to the current reporting year. Your initiative will be eligible in the year following the product's launch to the market.

No, producers that meet one of the three exemption criteria for the payment of a PFP are not eligible to Ecodesign Bonus.

No, only the materials target by EPR and by the Regulation of curbside collection are eligible for the Ecodesign Bonus.

The reference year to be used must correspond to the calendar year in which the ecodesigned container, packaging, or printed material is put on the market. For example, for the bonus related to the 2026 reporting, the reference calendar year is units put on the market in 2025.

Bonus - Methodology / Process Questions

  • Producers have until June 30 of each year to submit their bonus applications for containers, packaging, and printed papers put on the market during the reference year, along with supporting documentation
  • ÉEQ then evaluates the submitted applications and may request clarifications
  • The amounts of credits granted are then determined once the eco-modulated fee schedule is finalized and approved
  • Producers are then notified, and credit notes are generated in parallel with invoices.

The bonus application form allows to apply for a container or packaging or for a range of containers, packaging or printed papers that meet the same ecodesign requirements. A separate request must be submitted for each ecodesign initiative responding to different ecodesign actions.

Bonus applications are evaluated by ecodesign experts, as well as by compliance analysts at Éco Entreprises Québec.

The determination of the eligible ecodesign actions is the result of a rigorous process of evaluating best practices and international ecodesign research. The pilot project during the 2021–2025 Schedule of Contributions period also provided valuable insights and led to substantial improvements to the bonus terms and conditions starting with the 2026 reporting.

The time will vary depending on the number of containers, packages, or printed papers for which the application(s) are submitted.

The bonus process and the application form have been simplified to reduce the time spent preparing an application. Supporting documents related to each action checked on the form must be provided when submitting the application, along with a sales report to verify the quantities submitted.