Bring back plastic bags like Trump did for straws, N.J. lawmaker says - nj.com

Apparently it might not have been the last straw.

Or plastic bag, for that matter.

Just months away from New Jersey reaching three years of banning single-use plastic bags in most stores and paper bags nearly everywhere, one state lawmaker is taking aim at the law.

Assemblyman John Azzariti Jr. (R-Bergen) announced on Monday legislation to repeal the law that restricts businesses from selling or distributing single-use plastic carryout bags, paper bags, polystyrene foam (similar to Styrofoam) service products and plastic straws.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in a similar vein in February: ending the federal procurement of paper straws.

“We’re going back to plastic straws,” Trump said during a ceremony at the Oval Office.

Although Azzariti‘s legislation was the first proposed since Trump’s executive order, Republican lawmakers last January introduced a similar bill that hasn’t moved.

Jersey Shore groups say that after the ban beach sweeps have turned up less plastic trash and recycling centers point to fewer bags gumming up the works at facilities.

In contrast, Azzariti said in a statement “the unintended consequences of the law are starting to negate any environmental benefits ... Just because your intuition tells you something is going to be true, science can prove you wrong.”

One of the major unintended consequences was an inconvenient accumulation of reusable bags that people say they have had to buy at the store, often when forgetting their bags at home.

“The amount of waste is increasing, the reusable bags are ending up in landfills, people are purchasing more plastic and more plastic is used in the production of reusable bags,” Azzariti told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday.

These are problems business groups and Democratic lawmakers said they’ve been addressing.

Other issues have included people pilfering shopping baskets or spending money on more reusable bags each time they buy groceries online.

In New Jersey, environmental groups and government officials have called the restrictions on plastic — including an even older mandate that restaurants ask before handing out plastic straws to customers — a success for the state’s environment.

Authors of a new plastic waste report, said after the plastic reduction law, roughly 16.5 billion single-use plastic bags and 110 million single-use paper bags were kept out of the waste stream solely in the supermarket sector.

Linda Doherty, the president of nonprofit New Jersey Food Council, said Tuesday the “well-designed single-use plastic bag ban has successfully reduced plastic bag use and associated litter and pollution.”

Doherty and other supporters of the bans say the health of people, who for instance are subject to the negative impacts of microplastics, and marine life continue to benefit too.

“Today,” she added, “shoppers don’t see single-use bags blowing in the wind, wrapped around tree branches, littering beaches or discarded in a shopping cart.”

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Citing different studies, both Azzariti and Doherty made cases for why laws on plastic are either needed or should be nixed.

Azzariti highlighted a study published by Environmental and Resource Economics that suggested plastic bag bans translated to an increased purchase of garbage bags.

Another study the Republican assemblyman pointed to is a report from market researcher The Freedonia Group that highlights how the bag ban backfired because suddenly reusable bags entered the waste stream with negative ramifications.

However, that study was commissioned by the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance.

In response to the ostensible conflict, Azzariti said Tuesday “it doesn’t negate the usefulness of the research.”

Additionally, Azzariti said the New Jersey Plastics Advisory Council — which outlined the statewide benefits of the ban — was formed through the law banning single-use plastics, paper bags and Styrofoam.

“It is part of the DEP,” he said. “Most members are appointed by the governor. One could say their report represents a conflict of interest. And even they identified some of the unintended negative consequences of the law.”

Doherty said the statewide council’s report showed annual gains from the law and a local study indicated that since May 2022 there have been 26.5 million fewer bags generated annually by Trenton residents alone.

“Those Trenton-based bags would stretch 4,608 miles if laid side by side, saving 133,760 gallons of oil used to produce them," the New Jersey Food Council said, referring to Environment America figures.

More New Jersey-wide studies on the plastic bag ban’s impacts are needed in order to fully understand the impact on businesses and communities, state advocates acknowledged.

Some reports rely on figures of total bags used prior to the bans and it remains unclear exactly how many reusable bags are now regularly processed at recycling facilities throughout the Garden State.

Still, groups say New Jersey’s plastic law — among the strictest nationwide — should continue as is. They’ve also pushed further for a reduction on plastic packaging.

“Let’s keep the Washington D.C plastic bag industry from undermining the achievements of a robust and successful bag program in the Garden State that is keeping our waterways and parks clean, parking lots free of flimsy plastic bags and benefiting all New Jerseyans," Doherty said.

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Steven Rodas may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky at @stevenrodas.bsky.social.

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