SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is set to eliminate the option of “paper or plastic” at grocery store checkout lines following the signing of a new law by Governor Gavin Newsom that prohibits all plastic shopping bags.
Previously, California had banned thin plastic shopping bags in supermarkets and other retail establishments. However, thicker plastic bags, marketed as reusable and recyclable, were still available for purchase. The new legislation, which was passed by state lawmakers last month, will take effect in 2026, meaning shoppers who do not bring their own bags will only have the option of receiving a paper bag.
State Senator Catherine Blakespear, who supported the bill, noted that the reuse and recycling rates for plastic bags were alarmingly low. She referenced a state study revealing that the average amount of plastic shopping bags discarded per person increased from 8 pounds in 2004 to 11 pounds in 2021.
Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas, emphasized that the previous bag ban enacted a decade ago did not effectively reduce overall plastic consumption. “We are literally choking our planet with plastic waste,” she stated in February.
The environmental nonprofit Oceana commended Newsom for endorsing the bill, highlighting its role in protecting California’s coastline, marine ecosystems, and communities from single-use plastic shopping bags. Oceana’s plastics campaign director, Christy Leavitt, remarked that this decision reinforces California’s position as a frontrunner in addressing global plastic pollution.
Currently, twelve states, including California, have implemented some form of statewide ban on plastic bags, according to the advocacy group Environment America Research & Policy Center. Additionally, hundreds of cities in 28 states enforce their own restrictions on plastic bags.
California first established its statewide plastic bag ban in 2014, which was later upheld by voters in a referendum in 2016. The California Public Interest Research Group asserted that the new law aligns with the original intent of the initial bag ban. Jenn Engstrom, the group’s director, stated that plastic bags contribute to environmental pollution and degrade into microplastics that contaminate drinking water and pose health risks. She asserted, “Californians voted to ban plastic grocery bags almost a decade ago, but the law clearly needed an update. With the Governor’s signature, California has finally banned plastic bags in grocery checkout lanes for good.”
Governor Newsom originally signed the first plastic bag ban in the nation while serving as mayor of San Francisco in 2007.