In May 2022, just five months ago, New Jersey implemented a plastics law and bag ban, the most comprehensive bag law in the country. This legislation bans both plastic and paper bags from being provided by supermarkets and allows grocers to offer reusable bags for sale. It is the food retail community’s experience that the vast majority of shoppers complied and endorsed the reusable bag mandate. The successful transition of costumers away from plastic and paper bags occurred after a vigorous Bag Up NJ public education campaign in partnership with NJFC, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), NJ Clean Communities Council and the NJ Business Action Center.
This was a big win for supermarkets to be environmentally friendly, but there is also currently a slight bump in the road for the success of the plan. Orders that occur online for pickup or delivery are creating a growing number of reusable bags for consumers. NJFC is working with state legislators, policy makers and stakeholders to develop innovative and practical approaches to meet the new opportunities of the law without backtracking on the intent of it. NJFC is also encouraging the donation of the bags to local food banks and the creation of new bag exchange solutions, such as the GOATOTE system.
Several other legislative priorities include extended producer responsibility, liquor licensing reform, and unemployment insurance.
We remain concerned with the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Bill, which requires producers of packaging products sold in the state to implement packaging product stewardship plans. Manufacturers are already working toward sustainable packaging and investing in solutions that address the underlying problems in the recycling markets. We believe there are a number of principles that producer responsibility plans should include to better achieve the goal of increasing recycling rates. Areas of focus for NJFC include shared responsibility and costs, feasible timeframes, consistency with the post-consumer recycled content law, stakeholder coordination and engagement, incentivizing recycling instead of waste disposal, and development of a comprehensive recycling needs assessment.
Also, NJFC strongly supports the change that would come from legislation that allows the state to pay off federal Unemployment Insurance (UI) loans and avoid additional assessments on interest payments from these loans. This legislation would also provide for more advanced notice of rate changes and tax credits for small businesses.
Also, we are gearing up for the Good Government Breakfast, a celebration of the political and policy process. It will be held at Forsgate Country Club, Monroe, NJ on October 6. This event is the opportunity for food industry executives to break bread with state legislators, policy makers and business leaders. We will present our 2022 Good Government, Outstanding Legislator of the Year awards and our inaugural Good Government Partner Award. The Good Government award will be presented to Jennifer Sweeney, head of government affairs and public liaison, Campbell Soup Company. Outstanding Legislator Awards are being presented to Senator Theresa Ruiz and Assemblyman John DiMaio. The Good Government Partner Award is being presented to JoAnn Gemenden, executive director, NJ Clean Communities Council.
We will host the Mid-Atlantic Loss Prevention Conference and Exhibition at Forsgate Country Club in Monroe, NJ on November 2 in partnership with Delaware Food Industry Association and the NJ Retail Merchants Association. This year’s event will focus on “Hometown Security” and will features speakers from the NJ Office of Homeland Security and the NJ attorney general’s office to discuss serious topics surrounding threat landscape and assessment and concealed carry and preparedness. We will honor Mike Nelson, Regional Director of Asset Protection, Wegmans Food Markets, with the NJFC Loss Prevention Professional Award.
The NJFC holiday reception to raise funds for the NJFC educational scholarship program will be held at the Park Chateau Estate & Gardens, East Brunswick, NJ on December 7. This popular holiday gathering concludes the year of NJFC events as an industry celebration and scholarship fundraiser to support the young professionals seeking higher education. In 2022, 29 scholarships were awarded totaling $93,500 including seven NJFC scholarships of $25,000 and 22 member scholarships of $68,500.