New Jersey’s Skip the Stuff Law – Alan N. Walter, Counsel

SUMMARY Governor Murphy signed New Jersey’s Skip the Stuff law requiring restaurants, food trucks, hospitals, schools and arenas to provide single-use utensils and condiments only upon customer request starting August 1, 2026. Studies show a 94% reduction in disposable items, saving restaurants money. Full-service restaurants with 10+ seats must provide reusable utensils for dine-in, making New Jersey’s law the nation’s most comprehensive.

New Jersey Skip the Stuff Law Requirements and Implementation Timeline

Former Governor Phil Murphy signed New Jersey’s Skip the Stuff bill (S-3195/A-5157) into law, with an effective date of August 1, 2026. The law requires restaurants, cafes and other food service businesses to provide utensils and condiment packets only upon customer request rather than automatically including them in orders.

The law applies to restaurants, food trucks, hospitals, schools and arenas, prohibiting them from automatically including single-use utensils, chopsticks and condiments in orders unless specifically requested by customers. The law also applies to online ordering sites and apps.

Full-service restaurants with seating capacity of 10 or more must provide reusable utensils for dine-in customers, which distinguishes New Jersey’s Skip the Stuff law as the most comprehensive in the country. This dine-in requirement represents a significant expansion beyond laws in other states that typically focus only on takeout and delivery orders.

The law calls for an approximately six-month education campaign to inform consumers about the financial and environmental benefits of reducing use of disposable utensils and condiment packets before enforcement begins.

Restaurant Cost Savings and Financial Benefits Under New Jersey Law

The financial benefits for New Jersey restaurants appear substantial. Nationally, restaurants spend about $20 billion per year on single-use items like utensils and condiments. By eliminating automatic distribution, restaurants can redirect these savings toward other operational needs.

Clean Water Action’s Red Bank Case Study shows businesses are saving money by not giving away disposable cutlery and condiments in takeout orders that are more often than not simply thrown away unused, with the study showing a 94% reduction in cutlery and condiments provided. An earlier preliminary study found implementation reduced the amount of cutlery and condiments by 70%.

Restaurants were overwhelmingly supportive of a takeout model where customers opt in for cutlery and condiments as it saves them time and money. Montclair Center Business Improvement District Executive Director Abhishake Shah noted the measure will help reduce garbage and waste around the district and lower costs for business owners during difficult times when prices are high.

The cost reductions benefit restaurants across multiple expense categories including inventory purchases, labor time spent packaging unnecessary items and waste disposal fees. For restaurants operating on tight margins, these savings can be redirected toward equipment upgrades, ingredient quality improvements or other operational priorities.

Consumer Impact and Customer Experience Changes in New Jersey

For consumers, the transition requires developing new habits around requesting single-use items when needed. Nearly all (98%) of restaurant takeout and delivery orders are eaten at home or in an office where reusable utensils are available and preferred.

Environment New Jersey Director Doug O’Malley stated the law is common-sense legislation to reduce plastic waste and pollution and keep millions of kitchen junk drawers free of unneeded plastic utensils from home delivery, ensuring that people get what they ask for. Customers are thrilled not to have unnecessary stuff to store.

Consumers ordering through delivery apps will see options added to their menus where they can select single-use items and specify quantities. For in-person orders, customers simply ask for utensils, napkins or condiments when placing their order. Restaurant signage and online ordering system updates will remind customers about the new requirements.

The adjustment period may result in some customers initially forgetting to request items, but this typically becomes routine as the policy standardizes across establishments statewide. The six-month education campaign will help familiarize consumers with the new system before full enforcement begins.

Environmental and Public Health Benefits for New Jersey Residents

New Jersey’s law targets significant environmental and health concerns associated with single-use plastics. Clean Water Action zero waste specialist Marta Young stated that every fork and ketchup packet adds up, thanking New Jersey’s legislative champions for understanding that small things cause big problems.

Plastic has been linked to cancer, endocrine disruptors causing neurological issues, asthma, diabetes, mental health issues, infertility and reduced sperm, making reduction of unnecessary waste beneficial to everybody. The law addresses both immediate litter concerns and long-term health impacts from plastic chemical exposure.

John Weber, Oceana’s senior field representative in New Jersey, noted that takeout orders too often come loaded with plastic utensils and condiment packets that customers didn’t ask for and those items quickly become waste, with the law meaning less single-use plastic in the oceans and savings for restaurants.

The policy reduces production of items that persist in the environment for over a millennium while being used for mere minutes, addressing plastic pollution at its source rather than relying solely on recycling programs. This source reduction approach prevents plastics from entering waste streams and natural environments in the first place.

New Jersey Skip the Stuff Law Enforcement and Compliance Requirements

Local health departments will enforce the regulation through their existing restaurant inspection processes. The local health department, which inspects restaurants annually, would enforce the regulation with a plan to follow implementation with a very robust education campaign involving environmental commissions and others to get the word out to the public and design toolkits for rollout to restaurants and customers.

Restaurants must modify operational procedures including staff training, signage posting and online ordering system updates. The six-month education campaign preceding enforcement provides establishments time to adjust systems, use existing inventory and train staff without immediate penalties.

The bill passed narrowly in the Senate with a 21-15 vote and in the Assembly with a 43-24 vote, indicating some legislative debate over the measure despite broad support from environmental groups and business improvement districts.

New Jersey Leadership in Statewide Skip the Stuff Legislation

The requirement that full-service restaurants with seating capacity of 10 or more provide reusable utensils for dine-in customers distinguishes New Jersey’s Skip the Stuff law as the most comprehensive in the country. This dine-in provision goes beyond California, Washington and New York City laws that focus primarily on takeout and delivery.

New Jersey joins states including California and Washington, whose laws date back to 2021, as well as major cities such as New York which adopted its law in 2023. However, New Jersey’s statewide approach with the dine-in component creates a more comprehensive framework.

Twenty-four New Jersey municipalities have passed Skip the Stuff ordinances at the local level, including Jersey City, Hoboken, Maplewood, Red Bank, Westfield, Garwood, Monmouth Beach, Aberdeen and Neptune. The statewide law will standardize these existing local efforts and extend coverage throughout New Jersey.

The law represents part of New Jersey’s broader plastic reduction strategy following previous bans on single-use plastic bags and straws. The state has also adopted minimum recycled content requirements for packaging and considered extended producer responsibility legislation during recent legislative sessions. This comprehensive approach positions New Jersey as a national leader in addressing plastic pollution through practical, business-friendly policies that benefit restaurants, consumers and the environment simultaneously.