NJ’s Plastic Bag Ban - It’s Working!

We have been seeing a lot of reporting lately on the effectiveness of New Jersey's single-use plastic bag ban generated by a new study that claims the 2022 law was actually creating MORE plastic waste. Subsequent coverage has presented more context on the study and that the ban is actually working, as seen through the elimination of an estimated 5.5 billion single-use plastic bags a year and a reduction of plastic washing up on our shorelines.

These stories raise important considerations when analyzing public policies. A few things to take away:

🤔 When a story rests on study, always check who or what funded the study. Are they impartial? Do they have a financial motive based on a certain outcome? In this case, the study was funded by the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance - in other words, the call was coming from inside the house.

📋 Check on your trusted sources of information to confirm the story's premise. Here in New Jersey, there is a NJ Plastics Advisory Council -- made up of appointments from various sectors -- that undertook a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of the law.

🛍️ There might already be a solution in place to address some of the gripes about the law or policy. There is no need to go backwards on the progress we are making to reduce plastics in our communities and environment. If you have too many reusable bags you can donate your reusable shopping bags to food pantries, soup kitchens, and more. There are nearly 300 locations that are accepting donations of clean, new or gently used reusable shopping bags. Find locations here.

💡Arm yourself with useful information. Check out this single-use plastic bag ban waste reduction calculator to see what an impact banning single-use plastic bags have in your community.