Litter Free NJ News and Events

New Jersey’s youth can positively influence their peers to “Go Green”

TRENTON – February 12, 2024 – The New Jersey Clean Communities Council (NJCCC) is once again partnering with the state Department of Environmental Protection to coordinate a youth video contest, with the theme to “Reduce Single Use.” The contest is designed to encourage greater understanding of the state’s single-use plastics law, which went into effect in May 2022.  

Jennifer M. Coffey and Ed Potosnak Special to USA TODAY Network

New Jersey’s Plastic Pollution Reduction Act is an absolute success. Eleven billion single-use plastic bags were avoided as of the two-year anniversary of the plastic bag ban on May 4, 2024.

TRENTON — New Jersey's ban on plastic bags is one of the most effective bans of its kind in the country and saves shoppers from using billions of plastic bags each year, according to a new study.

For instance, the township of Woodbridge generated around 31 million fewer single-use plastic bags during this period.

New Jersey Clean Communities has partnered with the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy & Research Urban Mayors Policy Center (UMPC), led by Tenisha Malcolm, to advance community cleanup efforts and provide support to urban centers awarded NJCC grants to address clean, healthy, and safe communities.

Nearly two years after New Jersey enacted one of the toughest plastic bag bans in the nation, is it working?

Single-use plastic bags pollute communities with litter, degrade in the environment and harm marine life.

Over the past several years, U.S. cities and states have passed hundreds of policies restricting the sale and distribution of single-use plastic bags.

Whether you are new to the Clean Communities Program or a seasoned veteran, the Best Practices Guide is a vast educational resource.

Well-designed single-use plastic bag bans reduce waste and litter

PORTLAND, Ore. – Until recent decades, most shopping didn’t involve single-use plastic bags. That could be the case again soon. Recently enacted plastic bag bans across the United States have proven that people can still shop without plastic bags – and benefit their communities by doing so.

There continues to be plenty of interest in our Adopt-a-Highway program.  As of October 2023, there are 93 active volunteer groups cleaning up litter on state highways – the most ever since the inception of the program.  Eleven new contracts were added this year and a few more are pending.