PASCACK VALLEY-Montvale and Westwood boroughs have already begun preparations for a plastic bag ban, which will take effect in New Jersey next year.

The bill was signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy in November 2020, prohibiting companies from distributing disposable plastic bags, polystyrene food containers, plastic straws and paper bags from May 4, 2022.

Robert Hanrahan, chairman of the Montvale Environmental Committee, stated that the organization has begun to promote the ban to borough residents and businesses, and further plans to do so through town council meetings, local TV stations, Facebook pages, and flyers in the coming months. Advertising.

On August 28, just after the issue was published, the committee will distribute reusable shopping bags between 5:30 and 9:30 pm on Montvale's Day In The Park.

"The most important thing is that these banned products remain plastic for hundreds of years," Hanrahan said.

"We do have a lot of waterways in Montvale. Plastic will enter the waterways, move to other cities and eventually enter drinking water-so we have to take more responsibility here."

Hanrahan said that for many years the municipality has had the opportunity to implement a plastic bag ban locally, but Montvale chose not to do so because the district knows that a statewide ban is coming and does not want the legislation to overlap.

At the same time, the Montville Environmental Commission launched a program in September 2019 in cooperation with Trex, a manufacturer of recycled plastic decks, railings and other plastic products based in Winchester, Virginia.

“In Montvale, we collect plastic bags from residents and bring them to a warehouse so that trucks can turn them into decks and recycle them,” Hanrahan said. "To date, we have returned 3,777.6 pounds of plastic bags to Trex for recycling-this is equivalent to 311,548 plastic bags, which will eventually be landfilled."

In Westwood, Congressman Chris Montana recently stated that the Environmental Advisory Committee of his district is working hard to educate businesses and residents about alternative forms of plastic bags.

David Brizzolara, board member of the Environmental Advisory Committee, added that the district’s bag-to-bench recycling program-Westwood receives Trex outdoor benches from recycled plastic for use in its public spaces-will It was restarted on September 1st because the plan was shelved due to the pandemic.

For every 500 pounds collected over a six-month period, Westwood will get a bench. In the first two years of the program, Westwood received four Trex benches-two in Borough Hall, one in Community Garden in Westvale Park, and one in the bus stop at the corner of Mill and 3rd Avenue .

In Westwood, the Westwood Library and Borough Hall have collection boxes where residents can discard clean, dry plastic bags-including grocery bags, bread bags, dry cleaning bags, Ziploc, cereal, agricultural products And newspaper bags-as well as bubble wrap, outer packaging, stretch film, pallet packaging and plastic shipping envelopes.

"The bench is a great incentive, but the real benefit of the program is that it takes plastic out of the waste stream and turns it into a useful product," Brizzolara said.

He added: “Ultimately, we all want to see a reduction in single-use plastics, but the plan provides tangible evidence that recycling can have an impact when companies and citizens work together to develop viable solutions.”

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