Correction: Highlands Passed A Plastic Shopping Bag Ban 30 Years Ago

Our story on Monday claiming that QuickChek is lying to its customers in Highlands regarding its plastic bag ban was not entirely accurate.

QuickChek claims it is not giving its customers shopping bags “due to the recent passing of local legislation.” We reported that “Highlands does not have an ordinance that prohibits stores from providing their customers with shopping bags, plastic or otherwise.”

Both statements are untrue. Highlands passed a plastic bag ban 30 years ago. 30 years is only “recent” in a biblical context. MMM regrets its error.

Highlands Mayor Carolyn Broullon alerted us to an ordinance passed by the borough council in 1990 that bans the plastic bags AND eating utensils or containers or cups or plates of polystyrene or polyvinyl chloride or chlorofluorocarbon.

The ordinance requires that retail goods and take out food be wrapped in biodegradable packaging.

“We were trail blazers,” Broullon joked of the ordinance that has not been enforced in recent decades. She said the ordinance has not been repealed and that she was unsure if it has ever been enforced. She said she and the council would consider how to address the issue now that they are aware of the ordinance. She laughed when asked if the borough would seek to collect 30 years of fines of $500 per violation.