(Headline USA) “Paper or plastic” will no longer be a choice at grocery store checkout lines in California under a new law signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom that bans all plastic shopping bags.
California had already banned thin plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other stores, but shoppers could purchase bags made with a thicker plastic that purportedly made them reusable and recyclable.
The new measure, approved by state legislators last month, bans all plastic shopping bags starting in 2026.
State Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, one of the bill’s supporters, said people were not reusing or recycling any plastic bags. She pointed to a state study that found that the amount of plastic shopping bags trashed per person grew from 8 pounds per year in 2004 to 11 pounds per year in 2021.
Blakespear said the previous bag ban passed a decade ago didn’t reduce the overall use of plastic.
Twelve states, including California, already have some type of statewide plastic bag ban in place, according to the environmental advocacy group Environment America Research & Policy Center.
The California Legislature passed its statewide ban on plastic bags in 2014. The law was later affirmed by voters in a 2016 referendum.
The California Public Interest Research Group said Sunday that the new law finally meets the intent of the original bag ban.
“Californians voted to ban plastic grocery bags in our state almost a decade ago, but the law clearly needed a redo,” said the group’s director Jenn Engstrom. “With the Governor’s signature, California has finally banned plastic bags in grocery checkout lanes once and for all.”
A coalition of three California recyclers and manufacturers do not support the ban of plastic bags.
Roxanne Spiekerman, a representative for the group, stated, “This ill-advised approval will create a cascade of problems for every Californian.”
“These lawmakers chose to enact legislation that they know is flawed despite specific examples, studies, and polls that show banning plastic film grocery bags hurts consumers, businesses, is not what Californians want, and does not help the environment or limit plastic waste,” Spiekerman added.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
