Gov. Murphy rejects 5-cent fee on plastic bags in New Jersey

[TexasTowelie]

Gov. Phil Murphy plans to veto a bill that would have instituted a five-cent fee on single-use plastic and paper bags in New Jersey.

State Sen. Bob Smith, D-Middlesex, announced the impending veto Thursday during a joint legislative hearing in Toms River to discuss the options to reduce plastic waste including bags, straws and micro-plastics.

Parts of the room erupted in cheers at the announcement including academics and environmentalists who favor an outright ban on plastic bags rather than a fee. The Sierra Club, among others, support a ban instead of a fee.

As the bill remained pending, several towns rushed to issue plastic bans so their stricter regulations would be grandfathered in if the 5-cent fee statewide bill were signed. Now, they can have more time to establish those stricter bans, said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

Read more: https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/08/gov_murphy_trashes_plastic_bag_fee_for_nj_with_vet.html

[Cattledog]

1. Kroger here in Atlanta is getting rid of plastic bags.

Hopefully others will follow.

[TexasTowelie]

2. Austin put a law into effect that did that a few years ago.

The after effect was that a lot of convenience stores stopped keeping either plastic or paper bags so that the shopper couldn't pay the nickel, but had to buy a more expensive bag instead. I forgot about the new law when I came in for a visit on the bus and went to purchase three or four items and not be able to get a bag to carry those items out without spending another $3.

I'm for protecting the environment, recycling, and picking up my litter, but sometimes the unintended consequences of legislation sometimes backfire.

[OnDoutside]

3. We've had the plastic bag charge here in Ireland for over a decade and it works great,

It didn't take much to adjust. It was about 5c initially but now is about 35c a bag, though you can get sturdy reusable bags for around the same price. If I've bought 6 of those disposable bags in 10 years, it would be a lot.

A bit shortsighted by Murphy as the evidence is there to support its introduction.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

4. Just bring your own reusable bags to the grocery store... it's really not that hard!

Talk about a HUGE boost to saving the environment.

[OnDoutside]

5. Yes, we got used to it very easily, and straight away reduced those sort of grocery

bags from 300 million to 30 million after the first year.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

6. Amazing... and so easy. Should be the law in every country... like yesterday.