Gov. Phil Murphy signed the state’s ban on single-use plastic bags and straws in 2020. Critics say it is inconvenient and makes grocery trips more expensive. (Photo by New Jersey Monitor)
Gubernatorial hopeful Jack Ciattarelli gets a warm reception from prospective voters when he promises to lower property taxes and fix NJ Transit.
But the Republican hoping to succeed Gov. Phil Murphy admits there’s one topic that “brings down the house every single time” — his pledge to rescind the state’s plastic bag ban.
“Here’s the best part of my energy master plan, you ready? At the supermarket, you’re getting back your plastic bags,” Ciattarelli said at an event in Nutley Monday, prompting a resounding ovation from the crowd.
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Though many of Ciattarelli’s campaign trail promises are echoed by Democratic opponent Mikie Sherrill — they both say they want to make the state more affordable and tackle rising energy costs — the plastic bag ban appears to be exclusively a fixation of the Republican candidate.
Asked Wednesday whether she has a position on retaining or reversing the ban, Sherrill told reporters, “I think we shouldn’t be using plastic bags.”
Ciattarelli posted a video of that exchange on social media with the caption, “Based on this answer, I’m not sure Mikie Sherrill knows about the plastic bag ban in NJ — but one thing is clear: if you want your bags back at the grocery store, don’t vote for Mikie.”
Murphy, a Democrat, signed the plastic bag ban in 2020 as part of an effort to reduce waste. Since the law went into effect in 2022, grocery stores, restaurants, and other businesses have largely been barred from handing out single-use plastic bags and paper bags.
New Jersey is one of 12 states that restrict the use of single-use plastic bags, including California, New York, and Vermont, according to the National Wildlife Federation, while other states like Montana and Wisconsin have laws that bar jurisdictions from enacting such bans.
Unlike some other states, New Jersey offers no option for shoppers to pay for a plastic bag. Instead, they must rely on reusable bags they bring themselves or purchase from the retailer. Critics have complained that too many extra bags have piled up in their homes.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat who challenged Sherrill for the Dem nod for governor this spring, had pledged to bring back paper bags if elected, saying the ban raises costs for everyday New Jerseyans by making their grocery bills more expensive.
Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex) sponsored the plastic bag ban when it was introduced in 2018. There’s been opposition, but complaints have dropped since the ban went into effect, and people adapted their routines by toting around reusable bags in their cars, Greenstein said in an interview.
She stressed the environmental benefits of the law, like fewer plastic bags washing up on the shore or caught in trees.
“It helps our environment and it’s really not inconveniencing people that much,” she said. “Some people just want to complain about everything, so they will, but I just sense in the supermarket, people are used to it and it doesn’t seem to bother anybody.”
And while she recommends the next governor tackle other priorities when they come into office in January, Greenstein is not surprised that Ciattarelli’s crowds support bringing back plastic bags.
“It’s the MAGA thing to not want to be told what to do, so if it’s his crowd, they’re going to give him rousing applause because they want to be told they can do whatever they want to do, but as to whether it’s a true inconvenience to them, I’m going to guess it really isn’t,” she said.
A 2024 report from nonprofits Environment America, U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, and Frontier Group found that bans in three states, including New Jersey, and two cities have reduced the number of single-use plastic bags used annually by around 6 billion.
An earlier version of this story misstated Rep. Gottheimer’s position.
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