Northeast
Blue state’s bag ban meant to protect environment backfires at staggering rate: study
Plastic consumption in New Jersey spiked by nearly three times following the state’s implementation of a strict ban on single-use plastic shopping bags, a study found.
“Following New Jersey’s ban of single-use bags, the shift from plastic film to alternative bags resulted in a nearly 3x increase in plastic consumption for bags,” Freedonia Custom Research (FCR), a business research division for MarketResearch.com, reported in a study published this month.
New Jersey implemented a ban on single-use plastic bags in 2022, the strictest ban on bags in the nation at the time, billing it as an effort to cut back on the plastic one-use bags piling up in landfills.
“Plastic bags are one of the most problematic forms of garbage, leading to millions of discarded bags that stream annually into our landfills, rivers and oceans,” Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said after signing legislation in 2020 that authorized the bag ban. “With today’s historic bill signing, we are addressing the problem of plastic pollution head-on with solutions that will help mitigate climate change and strengthen our environment for future generations.”
NEW JERSEY LAWMAKERS CONSIDER TWEAKING PLASTIC BAG BAN AS REUSABLE BAG PLAN CAUSES ‘PROBLEM’
Gov. Phil Murphy delivers the State of the State Address at the New Jersey State House in Trenton on Jan. 10, 2023. (Aristide Economopoulos/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The ban took effect in May 2022, forbidding larger retail, grocery and food service stores from providing single-use plastic bags to customers. Instead, shoppers may purchase reusable bags made of woven and non-woven polypropylene plastic, or can bring their previously-purchased reusable bags to the store.
It didn’t take long, however, until shoppers started airing their grievances to local media that the reusable bags were stacking up in their homes due to repeatedly purchasing reusable bags at the grocery store, or due to home grocery delivery services using new reusable bags each drop-off.
NEW JERSEY’S PLASTIC BAG BAN: WHAT TO KNOW
“I keep them in the basement,” one New Jersey mom told NJ Advance Media in 2022. “I have another bag by the door in case I go out to the farmer’s market. Most of them are brand new, even have the tag on them. I use them one time but don’t throw them out.”
A man sits on a bench beside plastic shopping bags. (Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images )
Some Garden State lawmakers soon acknowledged the issues of shoppers not reusing the reusable bags and simply throwing them out, floating proposed amendments that have since apparently stalled, such as requiring home delivery services use cardboard boxes or paper bags instead of the heavy reusable plastic bags.
PLASTIC BAG BANS HALTED IN SEVERAL CITIES DUE TO CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Instead of having the intended beneficial impact on the environment, the reusable bag ban has actually backfired, data reported in the study show. Plastic consumption in the state has nearly tripled, with New Jerseyans previously consuming 53 million pounds of plastic before the ban, compared to 151 million pounds following the ban, FCR researchers reported.
A shopper leaves a story with their goods in reusable plastic bags. (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images )
Reusable bags made of non-woven polypropylene are much thicker than the typical single-use plastic bags typically found at grocery and convenience stores, using roughly 15 times the amount of plastic, the study reported. Though the bags are built for repeated shopping trips, most New Jerseyans only reuse the bags two to three times before they’re discarded.
NEW YORK’S PLASTIC-BAG BAN FRUSTRATES MANY SHOPPERS
“[Six times] more woven and non-woven polypropylene plastic was consumed to produce the reusable bags sold to consumers as an alternative. Most of these alternative bags are made with non-woven polypropylene, which is not widely recycled in the United States and does not typically contain any post-consumer recycled materials. This shift in material also resulted in a notable environmental impact, with the increased consumption of polypropylene bags contributing to a 500% increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to non-woven polypropylene bag production in 2015,” the study reported.
A man carries goods in plastic bags outside a department store. (Romeo Gacad/AFP via Getty Images)
In order to have a positive impact on the environment and the state’s plastic consumption, researchers found shoppers would have to reuse the bags a minimum of 16 times.
Reusable bags have also resulted in windfall profits for retailers since the ban took effect, with the researchers finding the average retailer could make $200,000 annually at a single location.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Murphy’s office for comment on the study, but did not receive a response by time of publication.
New Jersey is just one of a handful of states that have implemented plastic bag bans in an effort to stymie plastic consumption and benefit the environment. States such as Vermont, Oregon, California and others have their own versions of bans on single-use plastic bags.
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The North Haven Police Department is continuing to investigate after a male was shot while riding a moped on Sunday night.
According to police, a 20-year-old male was shot in the area of Whitney Avenue near the Hamden town line.
The victim sustained non-life-threatening serious injuries and was transported to the hospital.
No other information has been released.
Police are continuing to investigate, and say that there will be a heavy police presence in the area of Whitney Avenue and Skiff Street.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the North Haven Police Department.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WABI) – Maine veterans returned home Sunday after a weekend in Washington, D.C.
Giving local veterans and their loved ones a visit to the capital of the nation they dedicated their lives to is the aim of Honor Flight Maine.
Marking their second trip of the year, the nonprofit provided about 70 Pine Tree State veterans a free trip to Washington to visit the memorials and monuments dedicated to their service.
For many, this was this first time seeing the capital in person.
“Unreal,” “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” and “tear-dropping” were among the sentiments shared by veterans about the Honor Flight. Others remarked on the memories revived by visiting the ceremonial spaces.
“I have some friends that’s over there, so it really was nice,” said Edward Lee, a Vietnam veteran from Bangor.
Lee was able to find one friend’s name engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Using graphite and a piece of paper, he made a rubbing of the name to take home.
Rose Marie Curtis, a Navy nurse who served in Vietnam, said seeing the three nurses depicted at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial sent her back in time.
“For so many years, you don’t think about something. You’re doing this and doing that and having children, whatever. But this really brings you back,” Curtis described.
Not only does the trip give veterans the opportunity to see these sites, it allows a chance to connect; with perhaps a past or present self, and with fellow veterans.
“It’s what makes Honor Flight Maine special because you’re with your own kind,” explained Charlie Paul, a Vietnam War veteran who has been involved with Honor Flight Maine for a decade. “We’re a segment of society, they remember us on Memorial Day. They remember us on Veteran’s Day. They remember us on Armed Forces Day. But then they forget about us. And so for us as an organization to take them down here and see their memorials, it just lets them know they’re that special.”
For Lincoln veteran Richard Rollins, the visit gave him “closure,” considering, “…when I got out of the service, I mean, to be honest, even in ’79, I was never thanked.”
Among former servicemembers of all ages, father-son veterans James and Michael Sherman said the trip opened up conversation, sharing stories they had never told each other about their service.
“It means the world that people care, and we shouldn’t wait a moment to tell the people that are important to us what they mean to us,” Michael Sherman remarked.
Copyright 2026 WABI. All rights reserved.
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, a moderate Massachusetts Democrat, secured enough delegate support Saturday to appear on the state’s primary ballot as he challenges incumbent U.S. Sen. Ed Markey in this year’s Senate race.
Yet even though Moulton cleared a key hurdle to continue his Senate bid, it was Markey who won the party’s endorsement after winning more than 50% of the delegation’s support.
“You have a choice, you have to decide what the future looks like and what you’re going to demand,” Markey said Saturday in front of more than 4,000 delegates.
Markey won nearly 73% of the delegates’ support, while Moulton won nearly 27% of the vote. Massachusetts Democratic Party rules require statewide candidates to get at least 15% of delegate support to appear on primary ballots.
In heavily Democratic Massachusetts, the Senate primary contest is one of the most closely watched in the country as Moulton, 47, has centered his campaign on changing the status quo and demanding a generational shift in leadership.
If reelected, Markey would be 80 before his third six-year term would begin. While Markey has touted his stamina and embrace of progressive policies, questions about age have continued to swirl around Democratic candidates as they fight to take back control of Congress.
Incumbent Sen. Ed Markey is leading Rep. Seth Moulton, but if Rep. Ayanna Pressley were to enter the Democratic primary, it would change the picture, according to a new poll from Suffolk University and The Boston Globe.
In his nomination speech, Moulton argued that the Democratic Party needed more than “incremental change” and needed to start anew.
“It’s time for the generation that grew up with the internet, and will have to live for decades with AI, to lead our way through it,” Moulton said.
Moulton only addressed his opponent briefly during his nomination speech, giving a passing nod on not waiting another six years for generational change and later calling on Markey to participate in multiple debates before the September primary. Currently, the two candidates have agreed to participate in one debate later this summer.
Markey, instead, took a more critical approach by attacking Moulton’s previous comments about transgender kids and accepting corporate PAC money.
“Massachusetts deserves better than a senator who scapegoats trans kids,” Markey said to loud cheers.
In 2024, Moulton caught flak from some members of his party for saying he didn’t want his daughters playing in sports against transgender girls. Critics said Moulton echoed Trump’s talking points against allowing transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.
Moulton has since said his intent with that statement “was to point out that, as a party, we need to be willing to have difficult conversations.”
Moulton, who enlisted in the Marines after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and served four tours of duty in Iraq, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014. He briefly launched a 2020 presidential campaign, but he dropped that bid after a few months.
Markey served as a Massachusetts congressman for nearly 40 years before winning the Senate seat in 2013. He fended off a challenge in 2020 from Rep. Joe Kennedy III in the Senate primary by turning to his progressive allies to overcome a challenge from a younger rival from America’s most famous political family.
The Massachusetts primary is Sept. 1.
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