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 鈥� so restaurants and other businesses shouldn鈥檛 automatically provide them.
鈥淣ew Jersey citizens in general don鈥檛 want plasticware in their takeout orders unless they ask for it,鈥� said Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), who heads the Senate鈥檚 environment committee. 鈥淣ow, people just get it and then throw it away. This will help us get more plastics out of the environment.鈥�
The bill is the 鈥渆asiest lift鈥� of a series of plastic-reduction bills now in the Statehouse pipeline, Smith said, because it wouldn鈥檛 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 state鈥檚 straw law.