California has long had a partial ban on plastic grocery bags, but that law is set to get even more strict as plastic pollution continues to worsen. Consumers likely won't see the effects of the new legislation for a while, though.
Gov. Gavin Newsom last Sunday signed a bill into law that will make his state's preexisting ban on plastic grocery bags complete. Ten years ago, California became the first state to ban thin plastic grocery bags, which aren't easy to recycle and have become an environmental burden. A loophole in this decade-old law allowed stores to offer customers a thicker sort of plastic bag, but once this new law takes effect, those will be gone as well.
The use of plastic grocery bags has been a significant contributor to plastic pollution. A 2024 report from Condor Ferries said that around 327 million bags from the US alone end up in the ocean each year, while a 2023 Environmental Protection Agency report found that around 3.04 million tons of "plastic bags, sacks and wraps" ended up in landfills as recently as 2018. California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington have laws banning or restricting single-use plastic bags in an effort to curb the problem.
For more, here's how to identify which plastics you can recycle and which takeout containers are recyclable.
What sort of bags are being added to California's ban?
Under the current ban, which became law in 2014, California stores have been allowed to offer customers thicker plastic bags that are supposedly more recyclable. Under the expanded law signed by Newsom, any and all plastic bags will be banned from grocery stores, permitting stores to let customers use their own reusable bags or buy a paper bag.
When does California's expanded plastic bag ban go into effect?
There's quite a long time to wait for this expanded ban, as it's set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
Why is the plastic bag ban being expanded?
California State Sen. Catherine Blakespear was one of the expanded ban's supporters while it was working its way through the state legislature. She cited statistics suggesting that the current ban hasn't reduced overall plastic use in the state. According to the state study she referenced, the amount of plastic bags thrown away per person on California grew from eight pounds in 2004 to 11 pounds in 2021.
"We are literally choking our planet with plastic waste," Blakespear said while speaking in favor of the bill in February.
For more, read about what can be done about a world "drowning in plastic" and which mistakes to avoid when recycling paper and cardboard.