Scott Fallon reports for the North Jersey Record
More than two dozen NJ towns have banned thin plastic takeout bags like the ones found at many grocery and big box stores. Lawmakers are considering a statewide ban on bags along with foam food containers and straws. (Photo: Mitsu Yasukawa/Northjersey.com)
The global push to ban everyday plastic products that litter oceans and waterways has no greater fight in the U.S. in 2019 than in New Jersey where the most far-reaching set of plastics regulations in the nation is slowly making its way through Trenton.
Manufacturers and retailers are gearing up to defeat a bill that would ban plastic bags, foam containers and plastic straws fearing passage in New Jersey could prompt other states to adopt similar regulations.
“No state or a major city has taken on all three so the stakes are high,” said John Weber, Mid-Atlantic manager of the Surfrider Foundation, a clean ocean and beach advocacy group. “A lot of other states are taking note because it would be the most comprehensive plastics legislation in the country.”
Supporters, like Weber, say the measure will curb plastic litter that is inundating New Jersey’s beaches, riverfronts, streets and even some of its most serene waterways.
Osprey stuck to plastic bag at nest in Bayville, NJ. (Beverly Morris photo)Support is growing with more than two dozen towns and cities enacting their own regulations from large cities like Hoboken and Jersey City to Shore towns like Bradley Beach and Point Pleasant to curb the 4.5 billion plastic bags and other products given to New Jersey shoppers each year.
But a coalition of plastics manufacturers, convenience stores, supermarkets and other businesses that turned out in force at a September legislative hearing to oppose the bill say the measure will cost jobs and do little to curb litter.
Lobbying lawmakers
Leading the way is the American Progressive Bag Alliance, which lobbies on behalf of manufacturers that employ 25,000 workers in 40 states and has fought against bans on its product in California, New York and other places across the country.
The group has hired New Jersey’s largest lobbying firm – Princeton Public Affairs – and the world’s largest public relations firm – Edelman – in its fight against a statewide ban.
New Jersey’s proposed ban “goes way further than anything any state or municipality has done,” Matt Seaholm, executive director of the bag alliance, said in an interview last month.
Seaholm said defeating New Jersey’s bill is on the top of his group’s national agenda. He intends to concentrate on lobbying lawmakers who have a bag manufacturer or plastics recycling facility in their district including the sponsor of the bill Sen. Bob Smith, D-Middlesex. Smith did not respond to a request for comment.
Unlike his organization’s campaign in California, Seaholm said his group would not be giving campaign donations to New Jersey lawmakers or political organizations. His organization raised more than $6 million to try to defeat California’s ban, which was ultimately approved by a public referendum in 2016.
“Our focus is working with legislators to help them understand the unintended consequences of anything they might do,” Seaholm said. “I would argue that the bill is trying to take a sledgehammer to a mosquito.”
