Latest! California passed a ban on plastic bags, offering only paper bags

  At the end of August, California lawmakers passed two identical bills banning all plastic shopping bags in California, the Biodegradable Materials Institute reported.

The state Senate passed AB 2236 on the evening of August 28, and the state Assembly passed SB 1053 on August 29. Both bills aim to completely ban grocers from offering any bags that are not paper.

Plastic bags have an average lifespan of 12 minutes before being discarded, with toxic microplastics rotting in our oceans and landfills for up to 1,000 years, impacting our environment.

The aim of the legislation is to incentivize consumers to carry their own reusable bags, a practice that stores encourage and support, which will reduce the expensive and wasteful practice of relying on store-supplied takeaway bags.

Next, they will be sent to the governor's desk to see if they become law by September 30. If signed into law, it would be implemented as early as January 1, 2026.

California first introduced similar legislation in 2014, which was later approved by the state's voters in 2016. It allows stores to offer "reusable plastic takeout bags that are considered thicker."

The truth is that thicker bags are hard to recycle - rarely recycled - and rarely reused. Instead, they contribute to the growing amount of plastic waste in California. According to CalRecycle, the number of grocery and merchandise bags processed by Californians grew 47 percent from 157,385 tons in the year California passed the plastic bag ban to 231,072 tons in 2022.