Smith Resolution to Urge for the Establishment of a Plastics Recycling Marketplace Passes Senate

TRENTON – A resolution sponsored by Senator Bob Smith, which would urge the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Economic Development Authority (EDA) to establish a plastics recycling marketplace, passed the Senate today.

“Rather than recycling them, Americans throw away billions of plastic bottles and bags every year. We’ve reached a point where we can no longer do this.  Plastics will sit in landfills for hundreds of years before they finally decompose.  Even worse, plastics that do not make it to landfills will turn into microplastics, which have even more catastrophic effects on our health and natural environment,” said Senator Smith (D-Middlesex/Somerset). “We have an opportunity to create a private recycling industry in New Jersey that could spur economic growth while also helping to keep plastics out of landfills and our natural environment.”

The resolution, SCR-137, would urge the DEP to utilize funds from the State Recycling Fund to conduct the necessary research for the development of a plastics recycling marketplace in the state. This would increase the volume of single-use plastics being recycled in the state and decrease the amount of plastics entering into our natural environment.  In addition, the Legislature urges the EDA to take steps to encourage and provide funding to establish a plastics recycling marketplace in the state in order to reduce the presence of single-use plastics in our natural environment.

The bill was released from the Senate by a vote of 40-0.