Branding Agency in New Jersey: The Checkout Bag Designed to the State’s Definition

Updated November 2026 · Written and maintained by the Progression Agency strategy team

Since May 4, 2022, New Jersey stores may not hand out single-use plastic carryout bags, and grocery stores of 2,500 square feet or more may offer only reusable ones, under P.L.2020, c.117. The law defines a reusable bag by its washable fabric, its stitched handles and a design for multiple reuse, and the State’s factsheet puts that design at 125 uses. The checkout bag has become a branded object a customer carries for years. A branding agency in New Jersey designs that bag to the definition first and places the logo second. Progression’s team is based in New York, works with New Jersey retailers remotely and visits a store on request.

A logo printed on a bag with glued handles

A market orders ten thousand totes with its new logo in one crisp color. The proof looks right. The handles are bonded on with adhesive, and nobody asked the bag maker whether they were stitched.

The law’s second test is stitched handles, and the State’s factsheet names thread or ultrasonic stitching. The logo can be perfect and the bag can still miss the definition.

• Read the three tests before the logo is placed.
• Ask the bag maker to state the fabric, the handle stitching and the reuse design in writing.
• Choose the print method after the fabric is set.
• Keep the proof until the documents arrive.

A branding agency in New Jersey and the reusable bag definition

The carryout bag law, P.L.2020, c.117, defines a reusable carryout bag as one that is made of polypropylene, PET nonwoven fabric, nylon, cloth or other machine washable fabric, has stitched handles, and is designed and manufactured for multiple reuse.

The State’s factsheet restates those tests, says the handles are stitched with thread or ultrasonic stitching, and describes the design as at least 125 reuses. The law was amended by P.L.2022, c.6.

The definition is the brief’s first page, and the logo comes after it. A bag that meets all three tests can carry any brand; a bag that misses one cannot be called reusable however good the logo looks.

What makes a bag reusable under New Jersey law?

Machine washable fabric, stitched handles and a design for multiple reuse, which the State’s factsheet describes as at least 125 uses.

The bag spec sheet, field by field

The sheet below runs from fabric to supplier paperwork. Each row says what the law says, what the factsheet adds, what the brand decides and what to ask the bag maker.

Washable fabric the law names

Polypropylene, PET nonwoven fabric, nylon, cloth or other machine washable fabric. A fabric the maker cannot describe as machine washable does not meet the first test.

Thread or ultrasonic stitching on the handles

The law asks for stitched handles. The factsheet names two methods, thread and ultrasonic stitching. Adhesive alone is neither.

A design for 125 uses, by the State’s count

The law says multiple reuse. The factsheet puts it at at least 125 reuses. The number describes the State’s reading of the definition, and a maker’s own documentation is what shows a particular bag meets it.

Pricing a bag program and the identity behind it

Pricing depends on scope and is set in the written proposal, and published prices are subject to change. Bag manufacturing, printing and minimum orders are quoted by the bag maker.

A store with an identity in place often needs the bag spec sheet and a print-ready mark. A store starting from nothing needs the identity first. The written proposal says which, and what it covers.

Grocery stores of 2,500 square feet and up

Under section 3 as amended, no store or food service business provides or sells a single-use plastic carryout bag, and no grocery store provides or sells a single-use paper carryout bag. A grocery store is a self-service retail establishment of at least 2,500 square feet that sells household foodstuffs for off-site consumption.

A supermarket’s branded bag is a reusable bag sold or given at checkout, while a boutique’s branded bag can be paper. The grocery definition leaves out an establishment that handles only prepackaged food needing no time or temperature control, and counsel confirms that for a borderline store. See our grocery store marketing page for the store side.

Can a boutique offer a branded paper bag?

A store that is not a grocery store of 2,500 square feet or more may still provide or sell single-use paper carryout bags, so a boutique’s branded paper bag is a packaging choice.

• Choose the paper stock and the print for the brand.
• Leave reuse wording off the paper bag.
• Keep a reusable bag in the range for customers who ask for one.

Bags the law leaves out

The act’s carryout bag definition does not include seven kinds of bag. Branding on those bags is a packaging choice, and nothing on a thin produce or bakery bag calls it reusable.

• Keep reuse wording off these bags.
• Choose the print method for the material, not for the checkout bag’s definition.
• Ask counsel whether a particular bag falls under an exclusion.
• See our packaging design agency page for the wider packaging work.

Does a pharmacy’s prescription bag follow the reuse test?

A bag provided by a pharmacy to carry prescription drugs is one of the seven exclusions, so the three tests do not apply to that bag. Pharmacy branding there is a packaging choice.

• Keep the pharmacy’s mark clear and the wording about the contents plain.
• Leave environmental claims off the prescription bag.

One rule from Cape May to Sussex

Section 3 supersedes and preempts earlier municipal and county bag rules and bars new ones, so a single bag design works in every town in the state.

A chain with stores across New Jersey keeps one approved spec sheet instead of town by town versions, and a New Jersey branding agency writes that sheet once. The sheet names the fabric, the handle stitching, the maker’s documentation and the print method.

• One spec sheet for every location.
• One approved logo lockup for the bag.
• One place where the maker’s documents are filed.
• One contact who answers store questions about the bag.

Who checks the bag maker’s paperwork?

The store owner or the brand lead does, with counsel when a document is unclear. The agency writes the questions and files the answers beside the spec sheet.

• Request the documents before the artwork is final.
• File the answers with the date they arrived.
• Send any unclear document to counsel.

Claims printed on the bag

The bag carries the brand, not unbacked claims. Any statement about recycled content, recyclability or the number of uses comes from the bag maker’s documentation and is cleared with counsel.

The factsheet’s 125 uses is the State’s description of the definition, not a rating to print as the bag’s own. See our logo design services page for the mark itself.

Should the bag print a number of uses?

Only what the maker’s documentation supports and counsel clears. The brand comes first on the bag.

Warnings, fines and who enforces

A violation draws a warning for a first offense, up to $1,000 for a second offense and up to $5,000 for a third or subsequent offense. A violation of a continuing nature counts as a separate offense for each day, as the factsheet states.

The Department of Environmental Protection, municipalities and any entity certified under the County Environmental Health Act enforce the law. Buy from a maker who can show the bag meets each test. Legal questions go to counsel.

Bag launch check

The card below holds the items to tick off before a bag order goes in.

Small shops can start from our small business branding services page. For store marketing beyond the bag, see our retail marketing agency page, and for search and ads across the state, our digital marketing agency in New Jersey page.

What should a bag maker put in writing?

Four things, before the order: the fabric by name, the handle stitching method, the design for multiple reuse and the print method. The maker’s documents go in the same file as the spec sheet.

• The fabric, named, with a note that it is machine washable.
• The stitching method on the handles: thread or ultrasonic.
• The design for multiple reuse and the paper that supports it.
• The print method and any wash instructions for the print.
• A named contact at the maker who can answer questions after delivery.

Print, ink and color on a washable bag

The print method sits with the brand, and the fabric limits it. Screen print, heat transfer and woven labels behave differently on polypropylene, nonwoven fabric and cloth, so the maker is asked before the artwork is final.

• One or two ink colors travel across fabrics more easily than five.
• Large solid areas of ink can crack on some fabrics; ask for a wash test.
• A small woven label can carry the mark where a print would not hold.
• Keep type large enough to read when the bag is full.

Frequently asked questions