Officials pass sweeping ban that will have major impact on restaurants: 'Most restrictive'

The Garden State has passed a law to limit the use of plastic utensils in restaurants. It will take effect in August.

Outgoing New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed Bill S3195 on Jan. 20. It states that eateries have to provide dine-in customers with reusable serviceware.

"Takeout orders could include single-use utensils and condiment packets upon customer request and only in amounts customers specify," Resource Recycling Inc. reported.

Fast food and casual dining restaurants can give plasticware to anyone upon request. Prepackaged food with a utensil or condiment packet and condiment cups are exempt from the law, as are school cafeterias, health care facilities, and correctional institutions, the New Jersey Monitor reported. Food courts must comply by 2028.

New Jersey in 2022 also banned single-use bags, which resulted in a 96% drop in plastic bag use. Over eight months and across 33 stores, this amounted to saving 90 million bags.

Such legislation helps clean up the environment and reduce the production of planet-warming pollution. Plastic is mostly made from oil and rarely recycled, as PIRG details. Water bottles, packing peanuts, plastic wrap, plastic bags, and more cannot be made into other goods, and they become low-quality products if they get a second life. 

"All plastic will eventually end up being incinerated or landfilled, or just tossed away," the nonprofit states.

When it's thrown out, plastic often makes its way to the ocean, where wildlife mistake it for food, choking their digestive and respiratory systems, and killing them. It also breaks down into microplastics, which infiltrate drinking water, the food chain, and human brains. This creates significant health problems, including neurodegenerative diseases and fertility issues.

To mitigate these alarming effects, use less plastic. Swap plastic water bottles for a metal one, and bring your own glass to-go containers to restaurants. Bottled water is full of plastic, and putting hot food in plastic or heating food in plastic can leach toxic chemicals into your meal.

Eleven other states have outlawed plastic bags, but New Jersey's rule is "the most restrictive," Resource Recycling Inc. noted. Cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago have done the same, while Texas and North Carolina passed legislation to prohibit such statutes.

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