California took one step closer to banning all plastic bags from grocery stores, including reusable ones.
Both the California Assembly and Senate passed two bills to ban plastic bags, sending the bills to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature.
The big picture: The bills – Assembly Bill 2236 and Senate Bill 1053 – are intended to close a loophole in the single-use plastic bag ban that was enacted a decade ago.
- The 2014 ban allowed stores to offer thicker, reusable plastic bags, ridding the state of the thinner bags.
- Asm. Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D–Orinda) and Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D–Encinitas) authored the bills.
- The bills mandate that stores can only provide paper bags at the point of sale.
Why it matters: Back when Blakespear launched the effort to enact a wider ban earlier this year, she said the 2014 ban effectively failed at reducing California’s use of plastic.
- Even worse, the 2014 ban actually increased the state’s overall use of plastic. In 2004, Californians averaged eight pounds per person of plastic bag waste, a number that rose to 11 pounds per person by 2021.
- CalRecycle reported that Californians disposed of 157,385 plastic bags in 2014. That increased by 47 percent by 2022 with 231,072 tons discarded.
What we’re watching: Gov. Gavin Newsom will have the final say on the plastic bag ban.
What they’re saying: “Instead of being asked do you want paper or plastic at checkout, consumers will simply be asked if they want a paper bag,” Blakespear said. “This easy change eliminates plastic bags from the point of sale and helps California significantly reduce the plastic waste that is contaminating our environment and waters.”
