New Jersey lawmakers have banned plastic bags and Styrofoam and barred businesses from giving out plastic straws. Now the state senator leading the crusade to cut plastic waste in the Garden State is taking aim at single-use cutlery and condiment packets, saying residents chuck thousands of the pesky plastics into the garbage unused â so restaurants and other businesses shouldnât automatically provide them.
âNew Jersey citizens in general donât want plasticware in their takeout orders unless they ask for it,â said Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), who heads the Senateâs environment committee. âNow, people just get it and then throw it away. This will help us get more plastics out of the environment.â
The bill is the âeasiest liftâ of a series of plastic-reduction bills now in the Statehouse pipeline, Smith said, because it wouldnât outright ban plastic utensils and condiment packets but instead just reduce how many get distributed by requiring customers to ask for them if needed, similar to the stateâs straw law.