ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND SOLID WASTE COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 114

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  NOVEMBER 14, 2024

      The Assembly Environment, Natural Resources, and Solid Waste Committee reports favorably Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 114.

      This concurrent resolution would respectfully urge the Department of Environmental Protection to use monies from the State Recycling Fund to conduct the research necessary to develop a plastics recycling marketplace in the State, in order to increase the volume of single-use plastics being recycled in New Jersey and decrease the amount of these plastics that enter into the natural environment.  The concurrent resolution also respectfully urges the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to take steps to encourage and provide funding necessary to establish a plastics recycling marketplace in the State, in order to reduce the presence of single-use plastics in the natural environment. 

     Single-use plastics are defined as packaging and other consumer products which are made out of plastic and are designed to be used once and thrown away, including, but not limited to, bottles, cups, plastic lids, bags, plates, utensils, straws, stirrers, swabs, food containers, plastic film wraps, and plastic packaging.  Americans purchase 50 billion water bottles per year or an average of 13 bottles, per month, per person.  In addition, 100 billion plastic bags and 25 billion styrofoam plastic coffee cups, in total, or 307 plastic bags and 77 cups per person, are also thrown away by Americans each year.  Not all single-use plastic waste reaches landfills, permanent disposal facilities, or is recycled.

      New Jersey’s current post-consumer plastics recycling rates vary between six to nine percent, although some calculations indicate that recycling rates may be around 13 percent.  Mismanaged single-use plastic waste may block drainage systems, release toxic fumes if burned, become land pollution, and contaminate the food chain.  Further, unrecycled plastics are often disposed of in landfills, dumpsites, incinerators, or end up in waterways and oceans where they will remain for hundreds or even thousands of years.  Plastic released to the environment also typically does not biodegrade, but instead, breaks into smaller pieces, called microplastics, which continue to accumulate in the natural environment.  There is evidence, moreover, that microplastic pollution can move through natural food webs and accumulate in fin fish and shellfish tissues, which means that microplastics and associated pollutants have the potential to move into the human food chain.  The accumulation of single-use plastics in our environment is dangerous for the residents of this State, marine wildlife, and the environment, creates visual pollution, and impacts tourism, fishing, and shipping industries.