California passed a ban on plastic bags in 2014. Here's why Gov. Newsom has now signed a similar law
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KABC) -- It's been a decade since California lawmakers first took aim at plastic shopping bags, but that law's failure spurred a new law that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on Sunday.
The updated law goes into effect in January 2026 and bans all plastic shopping bags at stores that sell groceries,
While the initial 2014 law banned thin plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other stores, shoppers could still purchase bags made with a thicker plastic that retailers argued made them reusable and recyclable. The law was later affirmed by voters in a 2016 referendum.
But state studies show that people were not reusing or recycling the thicker bags, which led to an actual increase in plastic bags thrown away.
"There was a sudden surge in these much thicker plastic bags," said Laura Deehan, the director of Environment California, a group which helped shape the new measure. "The grocery stores felt like they met the definition of a reusable plastic bag, but what we found is that they're really not being reused at all."
One study found that the amount of plastic shopping bags trashed per person grew from 8 pounds per year in 2004 to 11 pounds per year in 2021.
Deehan said the new law will mostly target grocery stores and big-box retailers that also sell groceries.
"It's really focused in on anybody that sells groceries, so it will include Target and Walmart, because they sell groceries, as well as your local Safeway," she said.
