By Maureen Denman
The Morristown Environmental Commission is partnering with the Town of Morristown and Morristown Partnership to inform the public of the upcoming single-use plastic bag ban throughout the State of New Jersey (P.L. 2020, c.117).
This new law comes after New Jersey’s first plastic reduction law was adopted on Nov. 4, 2021, which regulates food establishments to only provide single-use straws upon customer request.
On May 4, 2022, stores will not be allowed to provide or sell single-use plastic carryout bags to their customers. Grocery stores larger than 2,500 square feet will not provide or sell paper single-use bags.
Additionally, the law states “no person or food service business shall provide or sell a polystyrene foam food service product or food in a polystyrene foam food service product to customers.”
The following bags are exempt from the statewide ban:
- Bags used solely to contain or wrap uncooked meat, fish, or poultry
- Bags used solely for loose items such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, coffee, grains, baked goods, candy, greeting cards, flowers or small hardware items
- Bags used solely to contain live animals, such as fish or insects sold in pet stores
- Bags used solely to contain food sliced or prepared to order, including soup or hot food
- A laundry, dry cleaning, or garment bag
- A bag provided by a pharmacy to carry prescription drugs
- A newspaper bag
WHAT does this all mean?
Shoppers will have to bring their own reusable carryout bags when they go to stores starting May 4, 2022. A “reusable” bag, according to the state, is a bag which is designed to be used multiple times, has stitched (not glued) handles, and is made of polypropylene fabric, polyester (PET) nonwoven fabric, nylon, cloth, hemp, or other washable fabric. Bags billed as reusable must be able to be used at least 125 times to qualify.
WHY the ban on plastics?
According to NJ No Plastics, it is estimated by 2050 there will be as much plastic as there are fish in the world’s oceans, prompting governments to take action on curbing single-use plastic products.
Over 90 percent of single-use plastic products are not recycled and the U.S. is the largest producer of plastic trash 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.
It has always been the mission of the Morristown Environmental Commission to promote environmental education. Please begin using reusable bags now so that keeping them in your cars and bringing them into the store becomes second nature.
For additional information regarding the single-use plastic bag ban in NJ, please visit: https://www.nj.gov/dep/get-past-plastic/ or https://bagupnj.com/
Maureen Denman is chair of the Morristown Environmental Commission.
