No matter where you live, blue recycling bins sporting the triangular-arrow logo and their distinctive logo are a familiar sight on New Jersey’s streets.
It has been 35 years since Tom Kean, former Governor, signed a mandatory recycling bill to reduce the amount and paper and metal sent to landfills and incinerators.
The 1987 law was the basis for 21 New Jersey counties to establish recycling programs, requiring residents of all 21 counties to separate recyclables from household trash. Counties worked hard for public enthusiasm and compliance.
However, it has become more difficult to run a successful recycling program, especially for plastics which have become so common in the years since the original recycling law was adopted.
For many years, almost half of the plastics that were collected in American recycling bins was sent to China for processing. Not all of the plastics were used to make new products. Many of these plastics were contaminated from food waste and could not be used. They ended up in landfills, incinerators, and the environment exactly where they were not supposed to be.
China has enacted a new policy that prohibits the import of plastics, and other materials for recycling. This is a blow to U.S. recycling programs. Some reduced the number of materials they would accept and some shut down completely. Recyclable materials that could not be sold on the marketplace became trash again.
Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a bill in January that aims to increase recycling efforts in New Jersey. It requires more recycled content in a range of packaging products. These include plastic and paper shopping bags and plastic food and beverage containers, plastic trash bags and glass bottles and containers.
If it is properly implemented, the new law will make New Jersey a leader in reducing virgin plastics. It applies to bags and containers sold at New Jersey businesses.
Similar laws regarding recycled content are already in effect in several states including Connecticut, Maryland and Maine, California, Washington, as well as Washington. It is being considered by more states.
The law aims to increase New Jersey’s plastic recycling rate, create more profitable recycling markets, and reduce the need for new virgin plastic, which is a petroleum product. It should also help to reduce plastic litter that is harmful to wildlife on land and in water.
JudithEnck, a former EPA Regional Administrator, is the current president of Beyond Plastics. This organization works to eliminate single-use plastics. According to JudithEnck, the former EPA Regional Administrator and current president of Beyond Plastics, which aims to end single-use plastics, only 8.5% are recycled nationally.
The recycled content law complements New Jersey’s single use plastic bag law. It goes into effect May 4. Since then, supermarkets and other stores are no longer allowed to give out single-use plastic bag. Customers will have to bring their own reusable bags or buy them from a store.
Beyond Plastics has called plastic the “new coal” because of its effects on climate change. According to the report, by 2030, the U.S.’s contribution towards climate change will surpass that of coal-fired electricity in this country.
Here are some highlights of the new law.
Most rigid plastic containers must contain at minimum 10 percent post-consumer recycling content by 2024. Plastic beverage containers must contain a minimum of 15 percent. These rates will increase gradually over time, with a maximum of 50 percent by 2036, 2045, and so on. For the first five year, plastic food containers will be exempt.
The law also provides for a 35 percent standard in recycled content for glass bottles; a 20 percent standard on plastic carryout bags; as well as a standard between 20 and 40 percent for paper bags depending on their size. The thickness of plastic trash bags will determine the standards.
2024 will see the banning of polystyrene foam packing nuts
All dairy products, infant formula, medical and specialty dietary foods, as well as refillable containers, are exempted from the bill.
Thank you to the governor Murphy and the state legislature for taking steps towards a cleaner and more healthy environment. New Jersey is now a leader in recycling recyclable materials into new products thanks to the recycled content bill.
Doug OMalley from Environment New Jersey points out that the public recycles as much as possible every week using their blue bins. It’s high time that producers take responsibility and use more recycled material in their products. New Jersey has a recycling crisis. This legislation will increase recycling rates and reduce plastic pollution. This bill is a win-win for wildlife and not waste.
Its now up to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protectionto adopt rules and regulations to implement the bill’s provisions.
To learn more about the new law, go towww.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2020/S2515/bill-text?f=S3000&n=2515_S6. To read the Beyond Plastics report, go tohttps://www.beyondplastics.org/plastics-and-climate.
And for information about protecting New Jerseys land and natural resources, visit the New Jersey Conservation Foundation website atwww.njconservation.orgor contact me [email protected].
Alison Mitchell serves as co-executive Director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation.
