PARSIPPANY — The Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council passed Ordinance No. 2019:33 prohibiting retailers from providing single-use plastic carry-out bags and non-recyclable paper bags to customers for the purposes of transporting products or goods out of a business or store. (Click here for a copy of Ordinance No. 2019:33.)
The ordinance goes in full effect Thursday, February 6, although some area retailers have already started to comply. For instant, Quick Chek, 170 Parsippany Road, charges consumers 10 cents if you require a compliant bag.
Businesses must now provide recyclable paper bags. Residents and customers should be encouraged to bring their own reusable bags whenever possible. The purpose of this ban is to reduce litter, protect the environment, and remove hard-to-recycle bags from our waste stream. (Click here for Key Facts brochure)
Retailers that distribute paper retail/grocery bags must charge a fee between 10 cents and 25 cents. The fee is collected and kept by the business to help cover the cost of purchasing the compliant bags. This ordinance affects all retailers, including grocery stores, restaurants, corner stores, pharmacies, clothing shops, hardware stores, beer and liquor stores, and every other retail store that provides bags to customers at point of sale. (Click here for Retail Training Facts)
Retailers will face fines if they supply banned bags to customers after February 6. A critical element of managing the ban in any business is preparing and training their team, particularly those who have regular contact with customers, such as checkout operators and customer service staff.
Other towns with similar ordinances are Ridgewood, Paramus, Saddle Brook, Glen Rock and Garfield. Bag bans in Montclair took effect in December. Haworth, Madison and Woodland Park are set to enact bans in March.
