California Bans All Plastic Bags, Strengthening Decade-Old Law

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill banning retailers from offering any type of plastic bag to customers at the point of sale. The new law, scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2026, is designed to close a loophole in the plastic bag ban that was passed by the California legislature in 2014 and affirmed by voters in a 2016 referendum, according to the AP.

“Instead of being asked do you want paper or plastic at checkout, consumers will simply be asked if they want a paper bag, if they haven’t brought a reusable bag,” said State Senator Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas), a co-sponsor of the bill, in a statement. “This straightforward approach is easy to follow and will help dramatically reduce plastic bag pollution.”

The old law allowed stores to provide consumers with thicker plastic bags at checkout as an alternative to paper bags, but “the reality is that the thicker bags are difficult to recycle — and few are recycled and they are seldom reused,” according to a press release from Blakespear’s office.

There are strong signs the original ban has not had the positive impact that had been expected. Citing figures from CalRecycle, Blakespear’s release noted that the amount of grocery and merchandise bags disposed by Californians “grew from 157,385 tons of plastic bags the year California passed the bag ban to 231,072 tons by 2022 — a 47% increase.

“A plastic bag has an average lifespan of 12 minutes and then it is discarded, afflicting the environment with toxic microplastics that fester in our oceans and landfills for up to 1,000 years,” the release added, noting that the new legislation is supported by more than 200 organizations and people including Californians Against Waste, California Growers Association, California Public Interest Research Group, Heal the Bay, Oceana and Surfrider Foundation.