Prohibits provision or sale of single-use plastic carryout bags and polystyrene foam food service products
BAN OF PLASTIC BAGS
Prohibits provision of sale of single-use plastic carryout bags. Stores will have reusable bags available for purchase.
LIMITED USE
Provision of single-use plastic straws is limited. Sales of pre-packaged plastic straws and beverages with straws are allowed (e.g. juice boxes)
STYROFOAM BAN
Bans polystyrene foam food service products, commonly known as Styrofoam, that are used for selling or providing a food or beverage, and includes, but not limited to, a food container, plate, hot or cold beverage cup, meat or vegetable tray, cutlery, or egg carton. (e.g., made to order sushi, deli sandwich trays)
PAPER BAG BAN
Bans paper bags at stores over 2,500 square feet in an effort to get shoppers to bring their own reusable bags. Stores over 2,500 square feet that ONLY handle prepackaged food that does not require time or temperature controls for food safety are exempt from the ban on paper bags (e.g., Bed Bath & Beyond).
EDUCATION
Appropriates moneys from Clean Communities Program Fund for public education.
New Jersey, we have a plastic problem!
Single-use plastics take an enormous amount of water, energy, and chemicals to produce, yet are only used for mere minutes and persist in our environment for more than a millennium.
- Over 90% of single-use plastics are NOT recycled. The United States is the largest generator of plastic waste in the world.
- Plastics are composed of a variety of toxic chemicals including styrene and bisphenol A (BPA) that are released when they break down. Plastics are now in the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe.
- UNLESS we do something about it, by 2050, there will be equal parts fish to plastic by weight in our oceans.
We are the solution
to the pollution
New Jersey is now home to the strongest Plastic Pollution Reduction Law in the United States!
Law Effective Now
Ban on single-use carryout plastic bags in all grocery, retail stores and restaurants. Ban on single-use paper bags only in grocery stores over 2500 square feet. Some exemptions apply.
Ban on polystyrene foam food products and containers (Styrofoam) in all grocery, retail stores and restaurants. Some exemptions
apply. Plastic straws to customers only upon request at restaurants and convenience stores.
What are the alternatives to single use plastics?
Reusables! Bags, Cups, Straws, Containers!
A reusable bag is one that is made of polypropylene, PET nonwoven fabric, nylon, cloth, hemp product, or other machine washable fabric; has stitched handles; and is designed and manufactured for multiple reuse.
This website will be updated as more information becomes available.
Email ANJEC
for more information.