Ban On Single-Use Plastics Enacted In Camden County

Camden County became part of a growing trend across the nation on Thursday night when the freeholder board approved a ban on single-use plastics. Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, single-use plastics will be banned in all of Camden County’s facilities and at all county-sponsored events, officials announced.

The ban will include all single-use plastic bags, plastic straws, stirrers, and utensils, polystyrene (Styrofoam), and bottled water in single-serve containers (1 liter or less), as well as balloons which were banned via a previous resolution passed in February 2018.

The ban will impact vendors who work with Camden County, Camden County College’s bookstore and cafeteria, the Camden County Jail and Juvenile Detention Center, the Camden County Library System, all county-sponsored events, vending machines in county facilities, and the county restaurant. Officials said they will begin rolling out alternatives over the next year.

“The research speaks for itself on the impact of plastics to our oceans, wildlife, and other natural resources,” Camden County Freeholder Jonathan Young, liaison to the Office of Sustainability, said. “We cannot deny reality any longer and must begin taking whatever steps we have to reduce our reliance on these harmful materials. The Board is committed to finding environmentally-friendly alternatives that can serve the same functions at a fraction of the cost to our planet’s health.”

Advocates applauded the action and called for a statewide ban.

“If Camden County can ban plastic, then every other county and town in New Jersey can do it. Plastic has become a menace to our environment and are a public health issue and it is important that cities, towns, and businesses are taking steps to reduce their plastic input and output,” New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel said. “We thank the Camden County Freeholders for taking a big step towards making their city greener and cleaner. New Jersey counties and towns are taking action but a statewide ban will go much further when it comes to combating plastic pollution.”

The ban also has its critics, including Camden County Republican Chairman Rich Ambrosino, who said “tiny red plastic straws will be supplied with every drink” at the party's fundraiser Saturday night.

“I fail to see how banning plastics in one of the highest taxed counties in the highest taxed state in the nation helps the hardworking taxpayers of Camden County,” Rich Ambrosino said. “Tomorrow night is our fall fundraiser at Trump National in Pine Hill and I promise there will be a tiny red plastic straw in every drink ordered if I have to buy the straws myself.”

Plastic is the most prevalent type of debris found in the ocean, often breaking down into “microplastics” that pose a potential threat to marine life, according to the National Ocean Service.

Given that these materials are not biodegradable, bags, bottles, and other plastic items can remain in our water and soil for hundreds of years, releasing toxins and littering shores and waterways, county officials said.

Plastics are also produced from petroleum, and the process to manufacture them typically requires large quantities of fossil fuel-derived energy. A reliance on single-use plastics therefore deepens our reliance on processes and materials that contribute to greenhouse gas emission, which has fueled rapid changes in the Earth’s climate, officials said.

“Americans throw away roughly 100 billion plastic grocery bags each year, which means that we have to drill and import millions of barrels worth of oil and natural gas to replace them, just to do it all again after a single use,” Young said. “The Board will be exploring options to implement compostable products, made of organic substances, which will hopefully make their way to commercial composting facilities as they become available in the region. Even without those facilities, compostable products are drastically less harmful in that they end up in our waterways or waste system.”

A study by the city of San Jose, California, found that a ban on plastic bags enacted there in 2011 reduced bag litter by “approximately 89 percent in the storm drain system, 60 percent in the creeks and rivers, and 59 percent in City streets and neighborhoods.”

In 2014, California became the first state to ban single-plastic use statewide. Washington D.C. began a ban on plastic straws this January, following the lead of Seattle, Washington, which enacted their own plastic utensil ban last summer. Canada has pledged to eliminate all single-use plastics by 2021.

In New Jersey, towns like Paramus, Bayonne, Lambertville, Avalon, Belmar, Hoboken, Jersey City, Teaneck are all passing plastic bag ban ordinances that would tackle New Jersey’s plastic waste problem.

Jersey City will be the largest city in the state to implement a ban on single use, disposable plastic bags. Atlantic County banned plastic bags for their parks too. The state legislature has one of the most comprehensive ban bills in the nation. S2776 (Smith) is a statewide ban on single use plastic bags, plastic straws, and polystyrene.

“Governor Murphy took leadership when he vetoes the plastic bag fee bill even though groups now taking credit for the ban actually supported it. Murphy did the right thing. Fees don’t work as well as bans. For example, Los Angeles County saw a 94 percent reduction in single-use bags after implementing a ban. In areas with fees, people get used to paying a little extra for the fee and plastic reduction backslides,” Tittel said. “Close to 20 towns and counties have banned plastic and 20 more are in the process of passing plastic bans. This should give the state momentum to pass a comprehensive statewide ban on single use plastics. Our legislature need to move quickly before our plastic waste problem gets any worse.”

A list of all states and major cities that have enacted a single-use plastics ban can be found at the National Conference of State Legislatures website. For more information regarding sustainability initiatives throughout Camden County, visit https://sustainable.camdencounty.com/.