American state, California will soon eliminate the option of plastic bags at grocery store checkouts following a new law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on Sunday.
This legislation marks the state’s strictest measure yet against plastic waste, effectively banning all plastic shopping bags by 2026.
California had already restricted the use of thin plastic bags in supermarkets and various retail stores, permitting only thicker plastic bags that were claimed to be reusable and recyclable.
Despite these measures, a state study revealed an increase in plastic bag waste, prompting the new law. Under the revised policy, customers who do not bring reusable bags will now only be offered paper bags.
State Senator Catherine Blakespear, a supporter of the bill, cited data showing that plastic bag waste per capita increased from 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) annually in 2004 to 11 pounds (5 kilograms) in 2021, despite previous restrictions.
Blakespear argued that the original ban, enacted a decade ago, failed to curb the overall use of plastic.
“We are literally choking our planet with plastic waste,” she said in February, emphasizing the urgency of the new legislation.
Environmental groups have praised the move. The nonprofit Oceana commended Governor Newsom for his decision, highlighting the positive impact it will have on California’s natural ecosystems and communities.
Christy Leavitt, Oceana’s plastics campaign director, noted that the legislation “solidifies California as a leader in tackling the global plastic pollution crisis.”
California joins eleven other states with statewide plastic bag bans, according to the Environment America Research & Policy Center.
Moreover, hundreds of cities across 28 states have implemented their own local prohibitions on plastic bags. California’s statewide ban was initially passed in 2014 and confirmed by voters in a 2016 referendum.
The director of the California Public Interest Research Group, Jenn Engstrom, welcomed the new law, stating, “Plastic bags create pollution in our environment and break into microplastics that contaminate our drinking water and threaten our health. 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.”
Governor Newsom’s signature on the new law continues a longstanding trend in the state’s environmental policy.
As mayor of San Francisco in 2007, he signed the country’s first-ever plastic bag ban, laying the groundwork for California’s current leadership in environmental regulation.
The state, which boasts the world’s fifth largest economy, banned plastic bags in 2014 but permitted stores to provide customers with thicker bags marketed as reusable.
