SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will eliminate the choice between “paper or plastic” at grocery store checkouts under a new law enacted by Governor Gavin Newsom, which bans all plastic shopping bags. Previously, while thin plastic bags were prohibited, shoppers could still buy thicker plastic bags labeled as reusable and recyclable.
The new law, which will take effect in 2026, was approved by state legislators last month and requires that shoppers who do not bring their own bags will only be offered paper bags.
Supporters of the legislation, including State Senator Catherine Blakespear, highlighted that many people were not reusing or recycling plastic bags. A study indicated that the volume of plastic shopping bags discarded per person increased from 8 pounds per year in 2004 to 11 pounds in 2021.
Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas, pointed out that the earlier ban, enacted a decade ago, did not significantly reduce plastic usage. “We are literally choking our planet with plastic waste,” she stated.
The environmental organization Oceana commended Newsom for this new legislation, emphasizing its role in protecting California’s coastlines and marine life from single-use plastic grocery bags.
Oceana’s plastics campaign director, Christy Leavitt, remarked that the ban reinforces California’s leadership in addressing global plastic pollution.
Currently, twelve states have some version of a statewide plastic bag ban, as reported by the Environment America Research & Policy Center. Furthermore, hundreds of cities across 28 states enforce their own bans on plastic bags.
California’s initial statewide ban on plastic bags was enacted in 2014 and later confirmed by voters in a 2016 referendum.
The California Public Interest Research Group expressed satisfaction with the new law, stating it fulfills the original intention of the previous ban. Director Jenn Engstrom emphasized that plastic bags contribute to environmental pollution and degrade into microplastics, which pose health risks.
Governor Newsom previously enacted the nation’s first plastic bag ban in San Francisco in 2007.