A Monmouth University poll released today finds that New Jerseyans are broadly supportive of the state’s imminent ban on single-use plastic bags, but some components of the new law are poorly understood or subject to disagreement.
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The topline result is positive for the bag ban: 61% said they support such a ban, versus 37% who say they oppose it. That’s modestly worse than the 65-29% marks the ban received when the said was last asked in September 2019.
Banning Styrofoam takeout containers, another provision of the impending law, is even more popular at 64-33% support.
The plastic ban is significantly more popular among Democrats than Republicans – 72-27% support among the former, 44-56% opposition among the latter – and also scores higher among respondents of color than among white respondents.
But a third provision of the law, preventing large supermarkets from using paper bags, is underwater at 47% support, 51% opposed. Only 28% of poll respondents said they even knew that the ban included paper bags, compared to 70% who said they had heard “a lot” or “a little” about the bag ban overall.
And some respondents indicated that they would be open to a more moderate solution that would allow stores to provide single-use plastic bags for a small fee. With that third option presented, 30% of respondents said they still prefer a total ban on plastic bags, 28% said they support the fee idea, and 41% said they want stores to continue giving plastic bags for free.
“Most New Jerseyans support efforts to reduce plastic use, the question is how happy they will be with the change once it goes into effect,” explained Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.
In general, respondents said they wouldn’t have too difficult of a time adjusting to a single-use bag ban: 38% said it would be “very easy” and 28% said “somewhat easy,” versus 18% who said it would be “somewhat difficult” and 15% who said “very difficult.”
There are noticeable divides along income lines, however. Only 10% of those making $100,000 a year or more said adjusting would be “very difficult,” compared to 25% of those making less than $50,000 a year. Lower-income respondents were also less likely than their higher-income peers to say they supported a ban in the first place.
“The upcoming ban is likely to produce the most confusion and problems for those on very tight incomes, especially for those with limited transportation options,” Murray said.
The Monmouth University poll was conducted from March 31-April 4 with a sample size of 802 New Jersey adults and a margin of error of +/- 3.5%.