California has passed a stricter plastic ban, but will it work? In New Jersey, plastic use has tripled after it banned plastic bags in 2022.
California governor bans plastic shopping bags
Due to a new law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, California plans to ban all plastic shopping bags by 2026.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law banning plastic bags at grocery store checkouts, including the thicker, “reusable” bags that stores had switched to after an earlier ban.
“We deserve a cleaner future for our communities, our children and our planet,” Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, a member of the California Assembly and one of the bill’s lead authors, said in a statement. “It’s time we get rid of these plastic bags and continue to work toward a more pollution-free environment.”
Single-use plastic bags have been banned in the state of California for nearly a decade, but on Sunday Newsom signed a law that would tighten the ban.
The previous bill “allowed stores to sell their customers thicker plastic bags that were considered reusable and met certain recycling standards,” said a statement on Senator Catherine Blakespear’s website. Blakespear introduced the new bill.
“The truth is, however, that almost none of these bags are reused or recycled and they end up in landfills or polluting the environment.”
Until now, grocery stores offered their customers plastic or paper bags. The new bill, SB 1053, now requires that anyone who does not already have a reusable bag with them will be asked if they want a paper bag, rather than having the choice between plastic or paper.
“This straightforward approach is easy to implement and will help dramatically reduce plastic bag pollution,” Blakespear said in a statement.
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When will the law come into force?
The law will come into force on 1 January 2026.
A new definition of the “recycled paper bag”
The previous ban, SB 270, took effect on July 1, 2015, and required grocery stores, retail stores with a pharmacy, convenience stores, food markets and liquor stores to use only reusable plastic bags made from recycled material or recycled paper bags, according to CalRecycle.
However, the new law changes the definition of a “recycled paper bag” and requires that all bags bearing this designation be made of at least 50% recycled material starting January 1, 2028.
Why was this bill proposed?
According to the press release, stores have switched to the following bags after the last ban:
- Difficult to recycle
- Rarely recycled
- Rarely reused
In 2004, Californians consumed 147,038 tons, or about 8 pounds of plastic per person, according to another statement on Blakespear’s website. By 2021, the number rose to 231,072 tons, or about 11 pounds per person.
Do plastic bans reduce plastic waste?
In January, a study found that plastic use in New Jersey has tripled, despite the state’s 2022 plastic ban, which is intended to address the “plastic pollution problem,” according to previous reporting by USA TODAY.
When New Jersey consumers began looking for alternatives and purchasing reusable plastic bags, plastic consumption in the state tripled, largely due to the material used in the alternative bags, the Freedonia Group found in its report.
“Most of these alternative bags are made of nonwoven polypropylene, which is not widely recycled in the United States and typically does not contain recycled materials,” the report said.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, bans on single-use plastics are one way to curb the pollution and emissions that come with producing this material.
However, the search for alternatives for transporting food and other products from the store leads to the purchase of products whose production through reusable bags further increases environmental pollution.
