TRENTON—This week, Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law a ban on businesses giving customers single-use plastic bags, paper bags, polystyrene food containers and plastic straws, NJ.com reports. The law, approved by state legislators in September, is the strictest in the United States and will become effective in May 2022.
“Plastic bags are one of the most problematic forms of garbage, leading to millions of discarded bags that stream annually into our landfills, rivers and oceans,” Murphy said in statement. “With today’s historic bill signing, we are addressing the problem of plastic pollution head-on with solutions that will help mitigate climate change and strengthen our environment for future generations.”