California lawmakers have passed a second plastic bag ban after acknowledging that the state's first ban failed to achieve its goal of reducing plastic waste.
“We are deeply grateful for this recognition,” said State Sen. Katherine Breakspear (D-Encinitas) and State Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer Kahan (D-Orinda). Los Angeles Times A more comprehensive law was needed to address “loopholes” in the original law that actually caused consumers to use more plastic over the past decade.
The Democratic Party's new proposal was submitted as a bill. Senate Bill 1053 and Assembly Bill 2236would amend the state's single-use bag ban to prohibit grocery stores from selling heavy plastic shopping bags and require them to only offer recycled paper bags at the register.
The bill was passed in late August and now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk for his signature. If signed into law, the ban would go into effect in 2026.
California's new plastic bag ban only applies to plastic bags at grocery stores. (Photo by ROMEO GACAD/AFP via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
California's plastic bag ban led to increased plastic waste, consumer advocates say
“Instead of being asked if they want paper or plastic at the register, consumers will simply be asked if they want a paper bag,” Breakspear told the Times. “This simple change will eliminate plastic bags at the point of sale and help California significantly reduce the plastic waste that is polluting our environment and waters.”
In 2014, California passed SB 270, a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags in grocery, drug and convenience stores, as part of an effort to reduce the amount of plastic waste and encourage people to use reusable bags. However, Democrats acknowledged that the plastic bag ban did not reduce waste because consumers opted to pay a small fee for heavier “reusable” plastic bags provided by grocery stores. However, consumers typically threw these bags away.
As a result, consumer advocacy group CALPIRG claimed that the amount of plastic bag waste has increased by 47% over the past decade.
“In California, 157,385 tons of plastic bag waste was discarded the year the law passed. But by 2022, the tonnage of discarded plastic bags jumped to 231,072 tons, a 47 percent increase. Even accounting for population growth, the figure rises from 4.08 tons per 1,000 people in 2014 to 5.89 tons per 1,000 people in 2022,” The Times said of the report's findings in February.
The new bill received support from both environmental groups and the California Grocers Association, the Times reported.
In an editorial last month, the paper urged lawmakers to pass a “do-over” plastic ban bill.
Under the new bill, California grocery stores would be allowed to sell paper bags only at the register. (iStock)
LA Times admits California's plastic bag ban actually made the waste problem worse: 'Unintended consequences'
“Retailers are handing out the bags like candy and consumers can't recycle them even if they wanted to. No recycling facility in the state is accepting these bags,” the editorial said.
“This can't continue,” the group continued. “We need a second plastic bag ban, fulfilling the promise lawmakers made in 2014 when they passed Senate Bill 270, and then two years later voters rejected it in a referendum to repeal the industry-led measure.”
A coalition of California recyclers and manufacturers said it was disappointed with the bill.
“This reckless approval will create cascading problems for all California residents. These lawmakers chose to enact a bill they know is flawed, despite concrete examples, research and public opinion polls showing that a plastic film bag ban will hurt consumers and businesses, is not what Californians want, will not help the environment or limit plastic waste,” said Roxanne Spiekerman, RRA spokesperson and vice president of public affairs for PreZero US. In a statement.
Fox News' Kendall Teets contributed to this report.
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