Governor Gavin Newsom passes legislation to ban single-use plastic bags in California

On Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a invoice into regulation that can shut a authorized loophole that has allowed for a rise in California’s plastic bag waste, regardless of a 2014 regulation that was designed to ban the environmental blight.

“Plastic bags create pollution in our environment and break into microplastics that contaminate our drinking water and threaten our health,” mentioned Jenn Engstrom, state director of CALPIRG, a shopper advocacy group. “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.”

In 2014, the Legislature handed a regulation that banned single-use plastic bags at grocery retailer and retail checkout strains. However, they allowed shops to supply shoppers, for a small price, “reusable” bags. Such bags included paper and high-density polyethylene plastic bags, which plastic firms argued may very well be reused.

This 12 months, CALPIRG launched a report exhibiting that the quantity of plastic bag waste in California had really elevated since 2014 because of the loophole in that regulation.

In 2014, 157,385 tons of plastic bag waste was discarded in California. By 2021, that tonnage had skyrocketed to 231,072 — a 47% bounce.

Even accounting for a rise in inhabitants, the report famous, the quantity rose from 4.08 tons per 1,000 folks in 2014 to 5.89 tons per 1,000 folks in 2021.

The new law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026 and focuses solely on checkout bags — not bags used to maintain produce or wrap meals that might trigger contamination, comparable to meat. In addition, starting Jan. 1, 2028, the definition of a recycled paper bag would change from one produced from 40% recycled materials, to one with greater than 50% recycled materials.

The new ban “at grocery store checkouts solidifies California as a leader in tackling the global plastic pollution crisis,” mentioned Christy Leavitt, Oceana’s plastics marketing campaign director.

She mentioned plastic bags are “one of the deadliest types of plastic to ocean wildlife,” and famous that once they break down, they turn out to be a pernicious environmental pollutant — having been detected in the air, water, vegetation and human our bodies.

“Our state and national elected leaders should continue to adopt new policies to stop plastic pollution at the source,” she mentioned.

A statewide poll launched by Oceana in 2022 revealed that 86% of California voters help native and state insurance policies that scale back single-use plastic, and 92% of California voters are involved about single-use plastic merchandise comparable to grocery bags, beverage bottles and takeout meals containers.

“Nothing we use for just a few minutes should pollute the environment for hundreds of years,” mentioned Laura Deehan, Environment California state director. “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.”

Others hailed the brand new regulation as properly.

“This is a big deal! Californians voted to ban plastic bags in 2016 and they didn’t get what they voted for,” mentioned Nick Lapis, director of advocacy for Californians Against Waste, referring to Proposition 67, a poll measure that doubled down on the 2014 plastic bag ban and was authorized by California voters. “I think this is an important example of California policymakers being committed to issues over time and not just calling it a day after a bill passes.”

The plastic recycling trade took problem with the invoice, nevertheless.

“We are disappointed that Governor Newsom has chosen to sign Senate Bill 1053,” mentioned Erin Hass, govt director, of the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance. “This flawed bill is similar to legislation in New Jersey, Canada and other regions that has resulted in the widespread use of imported non-recyclable plastic-cloth bags.”

Also on Sunday, the governor vetoed AB 2214, which might have required state businesses to start crafting steering and language to sort out the rising problem of microplastic air pollution.

In a press release outlining the explanations for his refusal to signal, Newsom famous a 2018 regulation that directed the Ocean Protection Council to develop a statewide microplastics technique, which he described as offering a “comprehensive and coordinated approach to identify early actions California can take to address microplastic pollution and advance existing microplastic research.”

That regulation required the council and different state businesses to report their findings to the state Legislature by December 2025.

“I believe this bill and the requirement for agencies to build out work plans ahead of the publishing of policy recommendations is premature,” Newsom wrote.