A trio of state legislators said Thursday that they are introducing bills to close loopholes in the original ban on the use of plastic bags by grocery stores.
State senators Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, and Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, joined Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda at a Sacramento press conference, in calling for an expansion of the state’s single-use plastic bags ban.
“It’s time to improve on California’s original plastic bags ban and do it right this time by completely eliminating plastic bags from being used at grocery stores,” Blakespear said.
Allen, who chairs the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, said that although California was the first state to ban “thin throw-away bags,” the state’s “bag ban policy has fallen behind those in other states.”
“We can and must do better,” he said.
Senate Bill 1053 and Assembly Bill 2236 would stop the use of plastic film bags that are currently sold at checkout to consumers by most stores. Those type of bags were allowed in the original ban – SB 270, passed in 2014 – because the bags were considered reusable.
However, Blakespear and her colleagues say, the bags are difficult to recycle – and few are ever recycled – but also rarely reused.
According to CalRecycle, the amount of grocery and merchandise bags disposed by Californians grew from 147,038 tons, or roughly 8 pounds per person, in 2004 to 231,072 tons, or roughly 11 pounds per person, in 2021.
The proposed legislation would tighten standards for reusable bags and requires stores to provide 100% recycled paper bags. Consumers still may opt to bring their own reusable bags.
Supporters who joined the legislators in announcing the bills include representatives of environmental groups and the California Grocers Association.
Jenn Engstrom, state director for the California Public Interest Research Group, or CALPIRG, said that “plastic bag bans work – just not the way California does it.” She explained that thicker bags “end up harming our environment and littering our communities just as much as the thinner ones. It’s time to finally ban plastic bags once and for all.”
Daniel Conway, the grocers association’s vice president of government relations, said “today marks the continuation of the work that started with SB 270 and is an important new chapter in our efforts to be stewards of the communities we serve and the environment we enjoy.”
