The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announces the launch of its Cut the Cutlery outreach campaign to reduce single-use utensils, condiment packets, and plastic straws. The Cut the Cutlery campaign is part of the DEP’s Get Past Plastic initiative, which aims to reduce plastic consumption and waste throughout the state. The campaign supports N.J.S.A. 13-1E-99.134a, in effect August 1, 2026, which limits the distribution of single-use utensils and condiments at food service businesses, as well as N.J.S.A. 13-1E-99.126 et seq., in effect since May 2022, which limits the distribution of single-use plastic straws.
To help keep New Jersey’s streets and waterways clean, improve human health, conserve resources, and protect wildlife, the Cut the Cutlery campaign encourages residents to:
- Bring their own reusable utensils and straws when dining out
- Take only the items they need from utensil dispensers and self-serve condiment stations
- Ask for only what they need when requesting single-use utensils, condiments, and plastic straws.
The campaign also provides information and resources for food service businesses, including an informative website with a guide for restaurants and an outreach toolkit containing a variety of resources. Food service businesses can use the available scripts to help train their staff and download flyers, signs, social media posts, logos, and mascots for use in their own outreach efforts. In addition, the DEP plans to conduct social media outreach as part of this campaign, commencing in August, to further raise awareness of the importance of reducing single-use foodservice items. If you have any questions about this campaign or New Jersey’s single-use plastic laws, please contact singleuseplastics@dep.nj.gov.
