If you order takeout a lot in New Jersey, this is something you’ll probably notice without being told.
You open the bag. The food’s there. Napkins too. But the plastic fork isn’t.
That’s not a mistake. Starting later this summer, New Jersey restaurants won’t be automatically adding single-use utensils to takeout and delivery orders anymore. If you want them, you’ll have to ask.
The change comes from a new state law signed in January, just before Gov. Phil Murphy left office. It’s part of a growing push—often called “Skip the Stuff”—to cut down on the piles of plastic that get handed out by default and thrown away almost immediately.
Most people know the routine. You order food. Utensils show up whether you need them or not. They get stuffed into a drawer or tossed straight into the trash. Multiply that by thousands of orders a day, and it adds up fast.
Under the new rules, quick-service and fast-casual restaurants can only include disposable forks, knives, and spoons if a customer specifically requests them. Full-service restaurants won’t be allowed to hand out single-use utensils at all to diners eating inside. The law applies broadly—food trucks, cafés, cafeterias—not just traditional restaurants.
New Jersey isn’t doing this alone. Similar laws are already in place in parts of California, Washington state, and New York City. The idea isn’t to ban takeout or make ordering harder. It’s to stop treating plastic cutlery as something that needs to be included every single time.
For customers, the change will feel small. Mildly annoying, maybe, the first time you forget to ask. After that, probably not much at all.
For restaurants, it’s mostly a habit shift. Staff have to pack orders a little differently. Signs may go up reminding people to request utensils if they need them. But there’s a practical upside, too: fewer supplies to buy, less trash to haul away.
Some businesses have wondered whether switching to wooden or bamboo utensils makes more sense. The problem is that those tend to get thrown out just as often. Different material, same outcome.
The new law takes effect August 1. By then, plastic forks won’t vanish overnight. But they’ll stop showing up by default — and once that happens, a lot of people probably won’t miss them.
Sometimes the biggest changes are the ones you barely notice at first.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.