The New Jersey Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee advanced legislation that would bar full-service restaurants from providing single-use utensils and condiments.
The bill, S-3195, also establishes limitations for the provision of single-use utensils and condiments for other food service businesses except upon request.
The measure, sponsored by Democratic New Jersey Sens. Bob Smith and Raj Mukherji, would prohibit full-service restaurants with on-site seating for 10 or more customers from providing single-use utensils or condiments, except for take-out meals. Instead, they would be required to provide their on-site customers with easy access to reusable, washable utensils.
For takeout, such as online ordering, the full-service restaurant may include single-use utensils or condiments upon request, provided the default option selected is “no utensils or condiments.”
Food service businesses that are not full-service restaurants with an on-site seating capacity of 10 or more customers may provide single-use utensils or condiments upon request. That request can be conveyed in person, by phone, online, or via a utensil dispenser or a self-serve condiment station.
Schools, licensed healthcare facilities, and correctional facilities would be excluded from the bill’s provisions.