What NJ Businesses Should Be Doing to Comply With New Plastic Straw Ban

New Jersey foodservice businesses, including restaurants, fast-food establishments, and convenience stores, must now comply with the state’s restriction on single-use plastic straws…

New Jersey foodservice businesses, including restaurants, fast-food establishments, and convenience stores, must now comply with the state’s restriction on single-use plastic straws under which businesses may provide single-use plastic straws to a customer only upon request.

The plastic straw ban is part of a more expansive state law aimed to curb plastic pollution. Other provisions of the 2020 law (P.L. 2020, c. 117), which ban the sale or provision of single-use plastic carryout bags from stores and food-service businesses; single-use paper carryout bags from grocery stores larger than or equal to 2,500 square feet; and use of polystyrene foam food-service products, are slated to take effect on May 4, 2022. 

“When we move beyond single-use plastics, we can reduce our reliance on the fossil fuels that create plastic, remove a source of litter from our communities, and protect wild and marine life from the harm of ingesting or becoming entangled in plastic products,” New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette said in a press statement.

New Jersey’s New Requirements for Single-Use Plastic Straws

Beginning on November 4, 2021, food service businesses may only provide a single-use plastic straw to a customer upon request by the customer. Covered businesses include restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, convenience stores, food trucks, movie theaters, and business/institutional cafeterias. Additionally, the “by request only” provision of the law for single-use plastic straws applies to all instances where a customer has the option of using or not using a single-use plastic straw, including drive-thru establishments and self-service areas.

To ensure compliance, food service businesses are required to keep an adequate supply of single-use plastic straws. Stores may continue to sell packages of single-use plastic straws and provide/sell a beverage pre-packaged by the manufacturer with a single-use plastic straw, i.e., juice boxes

A person or entity that violates the law will be warned for a first offense, may be fined up to $1,000 per day for the second offense and may be fined up to $5,000 per day for the third and subsequent violations. Violations of a continuing nature constitute an additional, separate, and distinct offense for each day that is deemed a violation. The DEP, municipalities and any entity certified pursuant to the “County Environmental Health Act” are authorized to enforce the law.

What’s Next?

The remaining provisions of the law, including those governing carry-out bags and polystyrene foam foodservice products, take effect on May 4, 2022. The DEP has established a website dedicated to helping businesses understand and comply with the new requirements. We encourage covered businesses to review the law, along with the DEP’s FAQs and other guidance. As always, Scarinci Hollenbeck’s experienced business attorneys are here to help address any compliance concerns.

If you have questions, please contact us

If you have any questions or if you would like to discuss the matter further, please contact me, Monica Schroeck, or the Scarinci Hollenbeck attorney with whom you work, at 201-896-4100.