Don’t believe the critics: New Jersey’s ban of single-use plastic bags is a success

New Jersey's ban on single-use plastic bags, signed into law in 2020, is working — volunteers are finding fewer such plastic bags, says Siva Jonnada, Chair of the Whippany River Watershed Action Committee. (Photos: Mounira El Samra)

In 2020, New Jersey banned the use of single-use plastic bags. Some would have you believe this law was just more government overreach and a failure. Quite the contrary, the plastic bag ban has been a success: though more research is needed, I can attest that the number of plastic bags seen littering New Jersey has dropped dramatically. 

The plastic bag ban critics often cite a study conducted by the Freedonia Group in 2022. But there are several reasons to be skeptical of this study. First, it was conducted barely a year after the law was actually passed. Gov. Phil Murphy signed the law in November 2020 and the ban was not fully implemented until May 2022. It’s hardly surprising, then, that people had not fully switched from using plastic bags.

The study also contended that people started using bags made of types of plastic not commonly recycled in the United States. Obviously, that’s an issue that needs to be addressed - but it’s not a good argument that the plastic bag ban has failed. If anything, it shows that the ban actually worked - and that grocery stores, restaurants, etc., need to be educated on the best alternatives to offer consumers.

Keeping the waterways clean

Volunteers are finding fewer plastic bags during clean-up events.

Even if the study’s claim is true, its use of data just one year after the law’s implementation is flawed: Consumers were just beginning to follow the law, and it takes some time for people to change their behavior, which would include using different types of reusable bags such as those made with cloth or burlap. 

In addition, the study was commissioned by the American Recyclable Plastic Ban Alliance, a cleverly named plastics industry work group. With a name like that, you might think this is a group of like-minded people seeking to ban plastic bags; it is anything but. The group’s website proclaims plastic bags are the “best option at the check-out counter.”

Another claim the law’s critics make is that plastic bag pollution might be a problem in the rest of the world, but isn’t in the United States because, supposedly, most of it ends up in landfills. This, too, is a specious argument since we want to have less waste in our landfills. The plastic bag industry touts recycling of plastic bags, so why aren’t most of them being recycled instead? Consumer education is lacking in this regard, so much of our plastic will be placed in landfills which are quickly filling to capacity. 

Indeed, we need to remember this is one of the main reasons Gov. Murphy signed the bill. As he said at the time, “Plastic bags are one of the most problematic forms of garbage, leading to millions of discarded bags that stream annually into our landfills, rivers and oceans.” 

We need desperately to reduce this flood of harmful waste: Wildlife consumes these plastics - many species even choke on bags and other plastic refuse. A plastic bag ban is just one step toward reducing these wildlife hazards. 

This waste also harms human health. Studies show that microplastics are now quite common in almost everyone’s body, around the world. One way this happens is, after plastic waste ends up in our rivers and streams, it contaminates our freshwater supply. As we consume this water , we ingest  the microplastics, which end up in our bloodstream. 

Plastic waste is affecting human health

“Microplastics are now common in almost everyone’s body — around the world”

The legislature passed the plastic bag ban in the hope that the volume of microplastics in our bodies is reduced - much like how lead in our bloodstream was reduced when lead was removed from gasoline and paint. (The use of lead water pipes is still an issue in certain areas, which is currently being mitigated.)

I can speak authoritatively even if only anecdotally on the impact of the plastic bag ban. As  Chair of the Whippany River Watershed Action Committee (WRWAC), I have led a number of river cleanups in the last two years - and I have seen the difference the ban has made with my own eyes: I have not seen any plastic bags during these cleanups. In contrast, when we did river cleanups prior to the ban (pre-2020), plastic bags were among the top items we collected. Of course, a thorough study will need to be made in the next few years to confirm what many of us have observed. 

Like any new law, there are going to be problems which need to be overcome, but the early flaws that critics are finding are no reason to claim the plastic bag ban is a “spectacular failure.” On the contrary, I am sure we will find more successes than failures and will continue to see  concrete results. 

It may be fun to be critical of  environmental issues, but these criticisms ought to be based on actual fact and not manipulated conjecture based on flawed data collected a short time after implementation. For the sake of our wildlife and ourselves, we should encourage more laws that deal with environmental concerns. Our health and our lives depend on it.

The views expressed in this article express those of the writer alone and not necessarily those of Public Square Amplified.