ReThink Disposable is working with communities across New Jersey on municipal and statewide single-use plastics bans.
Waste and litter from single-use plastics and other disposable products are creating an environmental crisis. We dispose of 100 billion plastic bags every year in the U.S., over 4 billion of which are used and disposed of in New Jersey. These bags are a threat to our health and environment, harming marine life, clogging storm drains, and releasing toxins into our air and water when disposed of by incineration and landfill.
Paper bags take 10% more energy and 4 times more water to produce than plastic bags. Examples from towns and states across the country show that banning plastic bags and placing a fee on all other single-use bags is most effective for long lasting change.
Bans
- Beach Haven
- Belmar
- Bradley Beach
- Brigantine
- Harvey Cedars
- Jersey City
- Point Pleasant Beach
- Stafford Township
- Ridgewood
- Hopewell Borough
- Saddle Brook
- Somers Point
- Chatham Township
- Trenton
- Stockton Borough
- Kearny
Fees
- Longport - 10 cents on plastic and paper
- Teaneck - 5 cents on plastic, also urges state to pass statewide law
- Ventnor - 5 cents on plastic
Hybrids and other single-use plastics
- Avalon - ban on plastic bags, polystyrene foam, non-compostable food packaging
- Lambertville - ban on plastic bags, single-use plastic straws, and polystyrene foam
- Long Beach - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Hoboken - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags, ban on polystyrene foam
- Monmouth Beach - ban on plastic bags, single-use plastic straws, and polystyrene foam
- Stone Harbor - ban on single-use plastic bags, plastic utensils, and polystyrene foam
- Little Silver - ban on plastic bags, single-use plastic straws
- Glen Rock - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Maplewood - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Highland Park - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Asbury Park - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Leonia - ban on polystyrene foam food service ware
- Haworth - ban on polystyrene foam food service ware
- Rahway - ban on polystyrene foam food service ware
- Bayonne - ban on plastic bags, single-use plastic straws
- Ocean Gate - ban on plastic bags, single-use plastic straws, polystyrene foam
- Parsippany-Troy Hills - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- South Orange - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Atlantic Highlands - ban on plastic bags, single-use plastic straws, fee on paper bags
- Cranford - ban on plastic bags, single-use plastic straws, and polystyrene foam; stirrers, lids, utensils by request only; requires food containers to be No. 1 or No. 2 recyclable plastic
- Red Bank - ban on plastic bags and polystyrene foam, disposable food service ware must be recyclable or compostable, and straws may be provided only upon request
- Paramus - ban on plastic bags and polystyrene foam food service ware
- Secaucus - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Fair Haven - ban on plastic bags, single-use plastic straws, and polystyrene foam
- Woodland Park - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Chatham Borough - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Madison - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Garfield - ban on plastic bags, single-use plastic straws
- Montclair - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Millburn - ban on plastic bags, single-use plastic straws, and polystyrene foam, fee on paper bags
- Sea Bright - ban on plastic bags, single-use plastic straws, plastic utensils, and polystyrene foam, fee on paper bags
- Collingswood - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Long Branch - ban on plastic bags, utensils, straws, stirrers, and polystyrene foam
- Harrington Park - ban on plastic bags, straws, stirrers, and polystyrene foam, fee on paper bags
- West Cape May - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Berkeley Heights - ban on plastic bags, straws, polystyrene foam, fee on paper bags
- Morris Township - ban on plastic bags, fee on paper bags
- Summit - ban on plastic straws and stirrers
- Camden County - ban on single-use plastic bags, plastic straws, stirrers, utensils, polystyrene, bottled water in single-serve containers (1 liter or less), and balloons at county facilities and events
- Bergen County - ban on polystyrene at county facilities and events
Click here to contact us to learn more about reducing plastic pollution and New Jersey's ReThink Disposable program.
ReThink Disposable is funded by a grant through the Northeast Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC), partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Trash Free Waters initiatives, and the Environmental Endowment of New Jersey.
