New Jersey’s Plastic Utensil Law Is Now in Effect
If you’re visiting the Jersey Shore this summer and ordering takeout from your favorite pizza shop, seafood restaurant, or boardwalk eatery, don’t be surprised if your bag doesn’t include plastic forks, knives, spoons, napkins, or condiment packets.
That’s because New Jersey’s new “Skip the Stuff” law (A5090/S3195) officially took effect on Aug. 1, changing how restaurants provide many single-use items.
The new law does not ban plastic utensils altogether. Instead, it requires restaurants and other food service businesses to provide them only if a customer specifically requests them.
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The goal is to reduce unnecessary plastic waste by preventing millions of disposable items from being handed out and immediately thrown away.
That means if you’re grabbing takeout after a day at the beach or ordering food back to your hotel, motel, campground, or vacation rental, you may want to remember to ask for utensils if you’ll need them.
If you’re placing an order online through a restaurant’s website or through a delivery app, you’ll likely notice a new option asking whether you’d like utensils, napkins, straws, or condiment packets included.
In most cases, those options are now set to “no” by default unless you choose otherwise.
The law applies to restaurants, food trucks, delis, cafes, convenience stores, grocery stores with prepared foods, and other food service businesses across New Jersey.
It also requires many full-service restaurants to use reusable, washable utensils for customers dining inside rather than disposable plastic cutlery.
Certain locations, including schools, healthcare facilities, correctional facilities, and some institutional settings, are exempt from portions of the law.
Businesses that don’t follow the law will first receive a warning from the state. Repeat violations can result in financial penalties, with fines increasing for additional offenses.
State officials say the purpose of the law is to reduce plastic pollution, keep litter off New Jersey’s beaches and waterways, lower the amount of waste sent to landfills, and even help restaurants save money by reducing unnecessary disposable products.
For visitors and locals alike, the biggest change is simple: if you’re ordering takeout in Wildwood, North Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Cape May, Ocean City, or anywhere else in New Jersey, don’t expect plastic utensils to automatically come with your meal anymore. If you need a fork, knife, spoon, napkin, straw, or condiment packet, you’ll need to ask for it.
It’s a small change, but one that state leaders hope will make a big difference in reducing plastic waste along the Jersey Shore and throughout New Jersey.
What do you think of this change?
Check out our latest Wildwood Video below about the changes coming to the Garden State Parkway!