California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs Law Banning Plastic Bags

According to the California Public Interest Research Group, the new law is in concert with the spirit of the state's original ban.

Californian Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a law banning all plastic bags in stores.

According to The Associated Press, customers who don’t bring their own bags will be asked if they want a paper bag when the law goes into effect in 2026.

One of the bill’s supporters, Catherine Blakespear, said that a state study showed that people were not recycling their plastic bags. The study showed an increase in plastic bag waste from 8 pounds a year in 2004 to 11 pounds a year in 2021.

According to the California Public Interest Research Group, the new law is in concert with the spirit of the original ban.

“Plastic bags create pollution in our environment and break into microplastics that contaminate our drinking water and threaten our health,” Jenn Engstrom, the group’s director, told the Associated Press. “Californians voted to ban plastic grocery bags in our state almost a decade ago, but the law needed a redo. With the Governor’s signature, California has finally banned plastic bags in grocery checkout lanes once and for all.”

According to the Environment America Research & Policy Center, at least 12 states have enacted some kind of plastic bag ban, while hundreds of cities in 28 states have their own plastic bag bans.

According to Grist, California’s first ban, which allowed the use of thick, purportedly recyclable bags, spawned copycat legislation.

After California’s amended law, at least two other states have introduced legislation to amend their laws while other states looking to ban plastic bags are taking the time to get it right the first time, including fighting Big Plastic.

Jack Egan, the vice chair for the Connecticut chapter of Surfrider, an ocean conservation nonprofit, told Grist that plastic bag waste needs to be dealt with as strictly as possible.

“You need a full ban on this stuff completely,” Egan said. “Otherwise, you’ve got a compromised, hamstrung, hard-to-enforce, easily worked-around ordinance.”