(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — California is putting an end to the age-old question of “paper or plastic” at grocery stores. Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a new law banning all plastic shopping bags, effective starting in 2026.
The state previously banned thin plastic bags, but shoppers could purchase thicker plastic bags marketed as reusable and recyclable. This new measure, approved by state lawmakers last month, eliminates this loophole, banning all plastic bags at grocery store checkout lines.
Consumers who don’t bring their own bags will be offered a paper bag alternative.
State Sen. Catherine Blakespear, a supporter of the bill, cites a state study indicating that the amount of plastic bags discarded per person increased from 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) per year in 2004 to 11 pounds (5 kilograms) per year in 2021, highlighting the failure of previous efforts to reduce plastic bag waste.
Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas, emphasized that the previous bag ban, enacted a decade ago, did not effectively reduce plastic usage.
“We are literally choking our planet with plastic waste,” she said in February.
Oceana, a non-profit organization dedicated to environmental protection, has lauded Newsom for signing the bill, praising it as a step towards safeguarding California’s coastline, marine life, and communities from the impact of single-use plastic bags.
Christy Leavitt, Oceana’s plastics campaign director, stated on Sunday that the new ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery store checkouts “solidifies California as a leader in tackling the global plastic pollution crisis.”
According to Environment America Research & Policy Center, a leading environmental advocacy group, twelve states, including California, have implemented statewide plastic bag bans. Additionally, hundreds of cities across 28 states have their own plastic bag bans in place.
The California Legislature first passed a statewide ban on plastic bags in 2014, which was later affirmed by voters in a 2016 referendum.
The California Public Interest Research Group, a non-profit advocacy group, stated on Sunday that the new law finally achieves the intended purpose of the original bag ban.
“Plastic bags create pollution in our environment and break into microplastics that contaminate our drinking water and threaten our health,” said the group’s director Jenn Engstrom. “Californians voted to ban plastic grocery bags in our state almost a decade ago, but the law clearly needed a redo. With the Governor’s signature, California has finally banned plastic bags in grocery checkout lanes once and for all.”
In 2007, as mayor of San Francisco, Newsom signed the nation’s first plastic bag ban.
