NJ officials could ban plastic water bottles next

❌Politico article shares Assemblymember Danielsen's thoughts on single-use plastic

❌Could a bill come to Trenton?

❌Those for and against

Is your place constantly stocked with single-use plastic water bottles? Do you constantly make water bottle purchases at convenience stores?

The future could look a lot different in New Jersey.

Assemblyman Joe Danielsen, D-Somerset, told Politico he’s “looking into” a single-use plastic water bottle ban. There’s no bill at the moment, but their reporting said he got inspiration after visiting areas in Cape Cod with a similar measure, which bans single-serve bottles but not larger containers available at supermarkets.

New Jersey 101.5 reached out to Danielsen’s team multiple times but we haven’t heard back.

Against a ban

Eric Blomgren, chief administrator at New Jersey Gasoline, C-Store, Automotive Association (NJGCA), says something like this would rock the industry’s grab-and-go concept.

"All the idea is the customers not planning ahead, so you can't really rely on them to have big reusable containers with them at all times. If they were planning ahead, they would probably save money and bring water from home,” Blomgren said.

He brought up the future could be cardboard, but he has questions when it comes to the supply, price and shelf life.

Another concern: enforcement.

Blomgren thinks businesses could ignore the crackdown if no fines are involved, and people would somehow find a way to get the drinks they want.

"The main focus should be on the people who are actually doing the littering, if that's the problem. The rest of us shouldn't suffer for the selfishness of a small number of people who are littering,” he said.

For a ban

Doug O’Malley, state director of Environment New Jersey, says we’ve seen an explosion of single-use plastics. When it comes to the mantra of “reduce, reuse, recycle,” he says there needs to be more of an emphasis on reuse and reduce.

“In the U.S. right now, every 11 hours we produce enough and throw out enough plastic to fill up MetLife Stadium,” O’Malley said to New Jersey 101.5.

But there’s more.

He says research this year from Columbia University looked into microplastics and nanoplastics; it shared there’s about 240,000 tiny pieces of plastic in about a liter of bottled water.

“If you’re putting a liquid in a piece of plastic, there’s going to be degradation of that plastic,” said O’Malley.

The bottom line to O’Malley: a ban would help the environment AND our bodies.

“It’s not to say that there can’t be ever single-use water bottles ever again, it’s just looking at the materials that are used. Plastic honestly is the worst material you can put water in,” said O’Malley. The future in his eyes: glass, aluminum cans, cardboard, refillable stations.

He says there’s talk in the state senate on extended producer responsibility.

Recent ban

Both agree a single-use plastic water bottle ban isn’t impossible — pointing to the 2022 ban on plastic bags.

O’Malley called that push a “homerun for the environment;” a study we shared earlier this year found roughly 5.51 billion plastic bags have been saved per year.

National Geographic calls plastic a “promising material” for food storage, the medical field and its advancements in clean energy, but its legacy gets tarnished because of plastic pollution.

We’ll have to wait and see if any further talk happens here in New Jersey.

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