NJ lawmakers' war on plastic has to end

By: Joseph Mason
Your Turn
Guest columnist

..... Despite the clear scientific evidence that plastic bag bans do more harm than good, New Jersey issued a ban on single-use plastic bags in 2022. The results were predictable. Consumers bought thicker, more polluting, plastic trash bags to replace them. paper bag waste skyrocketed by tens of millions of pounds. "Reusable" plastic bags were even more plastic to existing pollution.
..... Despite these unintended consequences, some New Jersey lawmakers decided the ban didn't go far enough.

Enter S3398: a burdensome, unscientific policy

..... In June 2024, state senators introduced the Packaging and Paper Product Stewardship Act (S3398) -a bill that critics labeled as unrealistic, burdensome and counterproductive. right now, the bill is sitting in the state committee, awaiting further action. Moving this bill forward without vast improvement would be a mistake, as it would dramatically increase consumer cost.
..... This bill would force manufacturers and distributors of plastic-packaged goods in New Jersey to:
* Pay additional annual fees - fees that can reasonably be expected to be passed along to consumers - simply for selling plastic-packaged products.
* Force reduction of single-use plastic packaging by 90% within tow years without any consideration of scientific feasibility impact on food safety, consumer cost, or other environmental considerations.
* Ban advanced recycling - a set of technologies essential to recycling certain types of plastic that would otherwise end up in landfills.

Higher costs, less innovation, fewer choices

..... If enacted, this bill would stifle innovation, drive up costs for consumers and businesses and force companies to pull everyday products off New Jersey shelves. Some multinational companies may even decide it;s easier to stop selling their products in New Jersey altogether rather than comply with excessive regulations, reducing competition and potentially driving prices up even further.
..... To make matters worse, a new economic study from CCSNJ just revealed that this legislation would add a $323.5 million finical burden to producers annually, which would yield more than $1 billion in additional consumer costs each year. At a time when the strength of the dollar in question and inflation and energy costs remain high, New Jersey consumers cannot afford even more surprise out-of-pocket expenses.

More bureaucracy

..... On top of that, the bill grants the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection unchecked authority to approve or reject companies' waste management strategies and increases bureaucracy by establishing a new Office of Plastics and Packaging Management and a separate Toxic Packaging Task Force, expanding th singeing Advisory Council on solid waste Management and establishing a new "Packaging and Paper reduction and Recycling fund" in the state Department of the Treasury, all of which effectively gives bureaucrats full control over what can and cannot be sold in the state.

The bill is awaiting action - and NJ must tread carefully

..... New Jersey is doing all of this despite ongoing scientific "life cycle" assessments showing that many types of plastic packaging - such as shrink-wrap for food safety, lightweight plastic bags and durable nonfood plastic containers - are more sustainable than alternatives. Establishing such a complex bureaucracy around simplistic beliefs about plastic packaging stifles innovation and hinders the adoption of better-informed use, recycling and packaging alternatives that can yield clear benefits to the environment.
..... The Packaging and Paper Product Stewardship Act (S3398) is bad legislation.
..... It is currently parked in committee, but it could still move forward, That cannot be allowed to happen. Lawmakers and the public need to recognize the damage this legislation would cause and refuse to let it advance.
..... New Jersey cannot afford more misguided policies that punish consumers, business, and innovation. Keeping S3398 stalled is the right decision - and the only path forward for a truly balanced and science-based approach to sustainability.

..... Joseph Mason is a retired professor of finance and former Hermann Moyse Jr/Louisiana Banker Association Chair of banking at Louisiana state University, a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and a former senior financial economist at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.