On November 4, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a law that bans supermarkets, fast-food restaurants, and retailers from offering single-use foam containers and cups, plastic carryout bags, and paper bags. The move is one of the country’s strongest laws of its kind and is praised by local environmental activists.
The legislation is sponsored by State Senator Bob Smith, chairman of the Senate Environment & Energy Committee, and co-sponsored by others. After several years in the making and facing disagreements along the entire way, the law will finally go into effect in May 2022.
Murphy said:
Plastic bags are one of the most problematic forms of garbage, leading to millions of discarded bags that stream annually into our landfills, rivers, and oceans. With today’s historic bill signing, we are addressing the problem of plastic pollution head-on with solutions that will help mitigate climate change and strengthen our environment for future generations.
Each year, approximately 100 billion single-use plastic bags and 25 billion Styrofoam plastic coffee cups are discarded in the US. Sadly, less than 10% of plastic in the US actually gets recycled, with an even smaller number of single-use plastics recycled. One of the main reasons for the lack of recycling is that most material-recovery facilities aren’t equipped to handle it, and it also doesn’t help that there’s such little demand for it on recycling markets.
Much of the plastic, made from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels, ends up in landfills and is either incinerated, polluting the air, or becomes pollution on land, waterways, and the ocean, where it threatens marine life. “The Legislature, therefore, determines that it is no longer conscionable to permit the unfettered use and disposal of single-use plastics in the State,” wrote the lawmakers.
Doug O’Malley, New Jersey’s director of Environment, said:
Plastics we use for 15 minutes should not end up in our environment and communities for endless generations.
Thankfully, the lawmakers included more restrictions than traditional plastic bans, adding polystyrene foam containers commonly used by restaurants and paper carryout bags from larger grocery stores.
The law will apply to restaurants, coffee shops, delis, grocery stores, convenience stores, movie theaters, food trucks, and cafeterias, including those functioned for or by government interventions. While plastic straws are included in the ban, restaurants will be allowed to provide them only at the customers’ request as of November 2021.
Those found violating the new ban will have a first-time warning, then face a $1,000 (€850) fine for a second offense and as much as $5,000 (€4,248) for additional offenses.
Some items would be excused for two years after the law goes into effect, including:
- Trays used for raw or butchered fish and meat.
- Food that’s already prepackaged by manufacturers.
- Long-handled plastic soda spoons used for milkshakes.
- Small cups used for hot foods, such as soups.
- Liquids that require lids, including sauces.
So far, fifty-five cities across the US have passed regulations on prohibiting or limiting single-use plastic bags. Some of the states have a mix of fees or bans on paper bags, while others encourage paper bags over plastic. However, New Jersey’s prohibition on both single-use plastic and paper surpasses them all, making it among the most comprehensive in the entire nation.
