California has taken a significant step in reducing plastic waste by enacting a comprehensive ban on all plastic shopping bags. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the new law on Sunday, which will come into effect in 2026. This legislation builds upon an existing ban that prohibited thin plastic bags, leaving consumers with the option to use thicker bags that were marketed as reusable and recyclable.
State legislators passed the measure last month, and it aims to eliminate the use of plastic bags entirely at grocery store checkouts. Moving forward, shoppers who do not bring their own bags will have the option of opting for paper bags instead.
Senator Catherine Blakespear, one of the bill’s proponents, highlighted the lack of recycling and reuse of plastic bags among consumers. She referenced a state study that indicated the average person disposed of an increasing amount of plastic bags, rising from 8 pounds per year in 2004 to 11 pounds in 2021. Blakespear emphasized that earlier measures did not significantly cut back on plastic usage, stating, “We are literally choking our planet with plastic waste.”
The environmental organization Oceana praised the new law, stating it will help protect California’s coastline, marine life, and communities from the hazards of single-use plastic bags. Oceana’s plastics campaign director, Christy Leavitt, noted that the ban reinforces California’s role as a frontrunner in combating the global plastic pollution crisis.
Presently, twelve states, including California, have implemented some form of a statewide ban on plastic bags, with numerous cities across 28 states also having similar regulations.
California first established a statewide ban on plastic bags in 2014, a law that was later endorsed by voters in a 2016 referendum. The California Public Interest Research Group expressed its support for the new law, asserting that it aligns with the original objectives of the earlier bag ban. Director Jenn Engstrom emphasized that plastic bags pollute the environment, contribute to microplastic contamination, and pose health risks.
Notably, in 2007, Newsom, then mayor of San Francisco, signed the first plastic bag ban in the United States.