With Governor Murphy’s expected veto of a measure that would have imposed a 5-cent fee on single use plastic and paper bags, New Jersey lawmakers will consider another bill that would ban plastic bags, straws, and Styrofoam containers.
New Jersey Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel says a plastic bag ban in California has had a significant impact.
“Los Angeles County which has more people than New Jersey put in a ban in. A 94 percent reduction in plastic bag uses. When Contra Costa County put in a ban they saw an 89 percent decrease in plastic bags found in storm drains and a more than 60 percent decrease in bags found in streams.”
Rocco D’Antonio is the managing member of Organic Diversion, a food waste recycling
company in Marlton. He says a ban on plastic bags should be accompanied by a strategy to deal with disposable paper bags.
“Paper bags cost three to four times more than plastic and would create a supply and demand imbalance, which has happened across the country. With various ordinances, that price discrepancy goes up even higher. Ultimately somebody has to pay for that.”
Environmental groups are urging that legislation to ban plastic bags in New Jersey also calls for a fee on paper bags to encourage shoppers to switch to reusable ones.