Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday enacted a law banning most plastic bags at grocery store checkouts. [emphasis, links added]
SB 1053, which would take effect in early 2026, would ban stores from providing single-use plastic bags to customers at the point of sale.
The legislation is California’s second attempt to crack down on single-use plastic bags in the state and includes a number of exemptions, including for bags used to carry unpackaged food.
“I’m grateful to Governor Newsom for signing this important legislation that will help protect California’s environment,” California Democratic Senator Katherine Blackspear, who sponsored the bill, said after the bill was enacted.
“At checkout, consumers will not be asked if they want paper or plastic, but will simply be asked if they want a paper bag (if they didn’t bring a reusable bag). This simple approach is easy to follow, It will help significantly reduce plastic bag pollution.
California enacted a similar law a decade ago banning single-use plastic bags Blackspear said customers are also allowed to use thicker plastic bags that meet recycling standards and are considered reusable.
However, given that this policy appears to be counterproductive Relatively speaking, those thicker bags are rarely recycled, and over time they generate more plastic wastethe state lawmaker added.
Between 2004 and 2021, the state's per capita trash volume increased by nearly 50%, jumping from about 8 pounds per person to 11 poundsaccording to CalRecycle data.
More broadly, California has pursued some of the most aggressive state-level climate policies in the country, including Ban on sales of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 and a Achieve 100% green energy goal by 2045.
New Jersey, another state politically dominated by Democrats, enacted its own ban on single-use plastic bags in 2022.
Although the consumption of single-use plastic bags dropped significantly after the ban came into effect, Overall plastic consumption increases in the state [largely because] Approved reusable bags are more plastic-intensive than unpopular single-use bagsaccording to research published in January by the Fredonia Group.
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