Statement: California’s plastic bag ban set to slash plastic waste

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1053 on Sunday, banning plastic bags from being provided at grocery store checkouts. This move turns off the tap to a notable source of needless plastic waste in California: the plastic grocery bag.

In 2014, California was the first state in the country to pass a law (SB 270) banning plastic grocery bags, which was upheld by a 2016 ballot initiative. However, that law allowed grocery stores to still provide plastic bags to customers, as long as they were reusable and recyclable. The result was the mass proliferation of thicker plastic bags in stores that plastic companies argue are reusable and recyclable.

In actuality, the thicker plastic bags are rarely reused in stores, as evidenced by CALPIRG’s recent survey that showed only 2% of surveyed customers brought back a thick plastic bag to reuse. The bags are also nearly impossible to recycle – not a single municipal recycling facility in California accepts them.  As a result, plastic bag waste by weight has climbed to an all-time high. 

The new law solves this problem by banning all plastic bags at checkout. Customers are encouraged to bring their own bag, but can still get a paper bag at checkout for a fee. 

By eliminating all plastic bags as an option at checkout, proponents argue the new law finally meets the intent of 2014’s original bag ban.

In response to the bill signing, CALPIRG State Director Jenn Engstrom and Environment California State Director Laura Deehan made the following statements:

“Plastic bags create pollution in our environment and break into microplastics that contaminate our drinking water and threaten our health,” said 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.” 

“Nothing we use for a few minutes should pollute the environment for hundreds of years,” said Deehan. “Finally, with this necessary update to the bag ban, plastic grocery bags will no longer be a threat to sea turtles, birds, and other wildlife in California.”