New Jersey legislators have been considering a bill that would ban single-use plastic bags, plastic straws and polystyrene food containers.

But now, a state senator who sponsored the proposed law wants to take things a step further and add paper bags to the bill’s list of outlawed items.

“No bags whatsoever," State Senator Bob Smith told NJ.com. "No single-use plastic, no paper.”

Smith aims for the envisioned amendments to soon be made so that the bill can be passed out of the state Senate in June.

Inspired by a vacation to Aruba, the man behind NJ's proposed state ban on single-use plastic bags, plastic straws and Styrofoam food containers wants to take the bill a step further. He wants to ban paper bags too.https://t.co/SAnfW2aTPt

— Michael Sol Warren (@MSolDub) May 3, 2019

A ban on paper and single-use plastic bags could have significant implications for promotional products distributors that do business in the Garden State. It could potentially open the door to increased sales of branded reusable bags, including totes and drawstring packs.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has indicated that he wants to put a ban on plastic bags on the books. He previously vetoed a bill proposing restrictions, believing it didn’t go far enough to protect the environment.

“I know we have to ban some member of the plastics family,” Murphy said recently, according to NJ.com.

Interestingly, an organization that represents supermarkets – the New Jersey Food Council -- says it supports bans on plastic and paper bags.

“As more customers shift their shopping habits and bring reusable bags, we think it’s a sensible solution to phase out and ban both plastic and paper single-use bags,” the group’s president, Linda Doherty, told NJ.com.

New York recently became the second state, after California, to pass a ban on single-use plastic bags.

More than 90 bills have been introduced in the U.S. this year regarding plastic bags, mostly to ban or place a fee on them, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The cities of Boston, Chicago and Seattle are among those that have already enacted bans of single-use bags. Hawaii effectively has a statewide ban because of county-level regulations throughout the island state.

The impetus for the bans is environmental. Proponents say plastic bags, in particular, degrade the environment, fuel the proliferation of litter and threaten wildlife.

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