California’s legislative body has passed two bills that prohibit retailers from providing or selling plastic shopping bags to consumers, including currently legal recyclable plastic bags.
According to Newsweek, two identical bills, AB2236 and SB1053, were introduced in the California State Assembly and Senate. On May 21st, AB2236 passed the Assembly with 51 votes in favor and 7 against, while SB1053 was approved in the Senate with a vote of 31 to 7.
California was the first state in the U.S. to ban single-use plastic bags in 2014, but retailers could still offer reusable plastic bags to customers. However, the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) stated that this measure did not have the intended effect. The latest data indicates that in 2021, California disposed of as much as 231,000 tons of plastic bags.
Currently, AB2236 has been submitted to the Senate, and SB1053 has been sent to the Assembly for consideration. If either bill passes in the second round of legislative approval and is signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, it will come into effect starting January 1, 2026.
The proposal allows grocery stores to sell paper bags for a minimum of 10 cents each, made from at least 50% recycled materials. It also clarifies that handleless plastic bags used for packaging food, sanitation, and other specific purposes are not included in the ban.
Regarding the initial passage of AB2236 and SB1053, CALPIRG’s state director Jenn Engstrom said, “California’s current plastic bag ban allows businesses to use thicker plastic bags instead of flimsy ones at checkout, but this clearly isn’t working.”
She added, “Plastic manufacturers are producing thicker bags to circumvent the law. As a result, these discarded plastic bags inevitably pollute our communities and environment. We appreciate the state legislature taking action to decisively ban plastic shopping bags.”
CALPIRG pointed out that California’s record levels of plastic bag waste in 2021 indicate that despite the well-intentioned statewide bag laws, residents have not effectively reused or recycled these bags.
The primary sponsor of the SB1053 bill, Democratic State Senator Catherine Blakespear, remarked, “The initial plastic bag ban in California did not yield the desired outcomes, and unfortunately, plastic bag waste in the state has significantly increased since its implementation.”
“We need to do better,” she stated. “It’s shocking that around 18 billion pounds of plastic waste enter coastal areas and oceans each year. California must take responsibility and eradicate this threat to our environment.”
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, plastic waste “may take 100 to 1,000 years or more” to decompose, depending on environmental conditions.
However, the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance (ARPBA) opposes the new legislation, arguing that banning reusable plastic bags may have unintended consequences.
The organization stated, “While bans may remove plastic shopping bags from circulation, they may force businesses and consumers to switch to other alternatives that have a larger environmental impact and are rarely reused, thus not being more environmentally friendly, which does not help our common environment.”
“The industry believes that rather than adopting counterproductive policies that increase consumer costs, emissions, and environmental impacts related to bags, promoting the reuse or recycling of plastic shopping bags is the way to go,” ARPBA said.
A recent study published in the journal Applied Spectroscopy revealed that Lake Tahoe on the border of California and Nevada has an average of 133 pieces of plastic waste per mile. Single-use plastic bags remain prevalent globally, with an estimated annual usage of 50 trillion bags.