Assemblyman John Azzariti Jr. (R-Bergen) has introduced a legislative proposal to repeal New Jersey’s ban on single-use plastic and paper bags, arguing that the widely heralded environmental measure has backfired. The bill, known as A5338, comes in the wake of studies suggesting that the law—once touted as the nation’s toughest—has paradoxically led to a dramatic increase in plastic waste rather than the intended reduction.
The ban prohibits single-use plastic and paper bags, polystyrene foam containers, and restricted plastic straws at stores and food service businesses statewide. When it went into effect, Murphy hailed it as a “historic” step to curb plastic pollution, predicting it would keep millions of bags out of landfills, rivers, and oceans.
However, Azzariti contends that the policy’s unintended consequences have undermined its goals, pointing to research that highlights a surge in plastic consumption since the ban took effect on May 4, 2022.
A key study by the Freedonia Group, a market research firm, found that plastic usage for bags in New Jersey has nearly tripled since the ban’s implementation. The shift to reusable bags—often made with 15 to 20 times more plastic than their single-use predecessors—has driven this increase, as many residents discard them after just a few uses rather than reusing them long-term. The study estimates that these bags must be used 11 to 59 times to offset their environmental impact, yet most are reused only two to three times before ending up in landfills.
“New Jersey’s 9 million residents started accumulating massive amounts of woven and reusable bags after the ban went into effect,” Azzariti said in a recent interview on New Jersey 101.5’s morning show. “Landfills are now filling up with these bags no one wants.”
Further evidence comes from a report in Environmental and Resource Economics, which found that plastic bag bans often lead to increased purchases of plastic garbage bags. In New Jersey, the study noted an additional 120 pounds of plastic sold per store per month as consumers turned to alternatives for household waste, offsetting reductions in checkout bags.
Azzariti seized on these findings, arguing, “Just because your intuition tells you something is going to be true, science can prove you wrong. The data isn’t there to support keeping this ban.”
The assemblyman’s bill also follows President Donald Trump’s February 2025 executive order to reinstate plastic straws at the federal level, a move Azzariti cited as aligning with his push to rethink restrictive plastic policies.
“New Jersey implemented the most aggressive ban on single-use plastics, Styrofoam, and paper bags to much left-wing fanfare,” he said in a statement. “But the unintended consequences are starting to negate any environmental benefits. It’s time to admit this was a failure and focus on solutions that actually work—like better recycling and pollution reduction.”
Environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers, however, have pushed back. The New Jersey Plastics Advisory Council, formed under the 2020 law, has claimed success, estimating that 16.5 billion single-use plastic bags and 110 million paper bags were kept out of the waste stream in the supermarket sector alone. Linda Doherty, president of the New Jersey Food Council, called the ban “well-designed” and credited it with reducing litter and pollution. Critics of Azzariti’s proposal also note that Jersey Shore cleanups have reported less plastic bag litter since the ban, though they concede reusable bags have introduced new challenges.
Azzariti has countered that the council’s findings may reflect a conflict of interest, given its ties to the governor’s administration, and pointed out that even their reports acknowledge some negative outcomes. He also highlighted a financial angle: retailers have profited handsomely from reusable bag fees, with the Freedonia study estimating one chain with 50 stores raked in $42 million annually—often charging consumers two to three times the bags’ cost. “This has become a regressive tax on residents, hitting the poorest the hardest,” he argued.
The repeal effort faces an uphill battle in a Democratic-controlled legislature, where the ban remains a point of pride for many. Governor Murphy’s office has not yet commented on Azzariti’s bill, but his past veto of a weaker 2018 plastics bill suggests he may resist rolling back the 2020 law. Still, the assemblyman’s proposal has gained traction among some business groups and residents frustrated with overflowing reusable bag collections at home.