California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a new law aimed at tightening restrictions on plastic bags, a move that environmental advocates argue was necessary to address increasing plastic waste in the state.
While California had passed a law in 2014 banning single-use plastic bags at grocery and retail checkouts, loopholes in the legislation allowed plastic bag waste to increase significantly.
The new law, set to take effect on January 1, 2026, aims to fully ban plastic checkout bags and requires higher standards for recycled paper bags by 2028.
California’s original 2014 plastic bag ban, widely celebrated by environmental groups, was intended to reduce pollution and litter from single-use plastic bags.
The law allowed stores to offer customers reusable bags for a small fee, including paper bags and high-density polyethylene plastic bags. Plastic manufacturers argued these bags could be reused, which satisfied the requirements of the law.
The increasing waste, despite the ban, led environmentalists to push for stronger regulations. CALPIRG’s state director, Jenn Engstrom, argued that the 2014 law “clearly needed a redo” to fulfill the promise that Californians believed they had voted for. The new law aims to address this, prohibiting plastic checkout bags entirely and setting stricter standards for paper bags.
California’s approach to plastic bag regulation, while celebrated by some, serves as an example of the state’s broader trend of imposing heavy-handed environmental regulations. These measures often fail to deliver their intended results while creating unintended economic consequences. Businesses and consumers are left to navigate the complex regulatory landscape, shouldering higher costs and dealing with bureaucratic red tape that may ultimately do little to resolve the environmental issues at hand.
The state’s growing list of mandates risks alienating businesses and driving up costs for everyday Californians, all while leaving questions about the true effectiveness of such regulations unanswered.
