Current:Home > InvestCalifornia governor signs law banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores -文件: temp/data/webname/news/nam2.txt
California governor signs law banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores
View
Date:2025-04-22 09:05:40
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — “Paper or plastic” will no longer be a choice at grocery store checkout lines in California under a new law signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom that bans all plastic shopping bags.
California had already banned thin plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other stores, but shoppers could purchase bags made with a thicker plastic that purportedly made them reusable and recyclable.
The new measure, approved by state legislators last month, bans all plastic shopping bags starting in 2026. Consumers who don’t bring their own bags will now simply be asked if they want a paper bag.
State Sen. Catherine Blakespear, one of the bill’s supporters, said people were not reusing or recycling any plastic bags. She pointed to a state study that found that the amount of plastic shopping bags trashed per person grew from 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) per year in 2004 to 11 pounds (5 kilograms) per year in 2021.
Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas, said the previous bag ban passed a decade ago didn’t reduce the overall use of plastic.
“We are literally choking our planet with plastic waste,” she said in February.
The environmental nonprofit Oceana applauded Newsom for signing the bill and “safeguarding California’s coastline, marine life, and communities from single-use plastic grocery bags.”
Christy Leavitt, Oceana’s plastics campaign director, said Sunday that the new ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery store checkouts “solidifies California as a leader in tackling the global plastic pollution crisis.”
Twelve states, including California, already have some type of statewide plastic bag ban in place, according to the environmental advocacy group Environment America Research & Policy Center. Hundreds of cities across 28 states also have their own plastic bag bans in place.
The California Legislature passed its statewide ban on plastic bags in 2014. The law was later affirmed by voters in a 2016 referendum.
The California Public Interest Research Group said Sunday that the new law finally meets the intent of the original bag ban.
“Plastic bags create pollution in our environment and break into microplastics that contaminate our drinking water and threaten our health,” said the group’s director Jenn Engstrom. “Californians voted to ban plastic grocery bags in our state almost a decade ago, but the law clearly needed a redo. With the Governor’s signature, California has finally banned plastic bags in grocery checkout lanes once and for all.”
As San Francisco’s mayor in 2007, Newsom signed the nation’s first plastic bag ban.
veryGood! (2312)
Related
- Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
- Louisiana asks court to block part of ruling against Ten Commandments in classrooms
- Does the NFL have a special teams bias when hiring head coaches? History indicates it does
- Prominent conservative lawyer Ted Olson, who argued Bush recount and same-sex marriage cases, dies
- Euphoria's Hunter Schafer Says Ex Dominic Fike Cheated on Her Before Breakup
- 2025 NFL mock draft: QBs Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward crack top five
- Ryan Reynolds Makes Dream Come True for 9-Year-Old Fan Battling Cancer
- Investigation into Chinese hacking reveals ‘broad and significant’ spying effort, FBI says
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Record-setting dry conditions threaten more US wildfires, drinking water supplies
Ranking
- British golfer Charley Hull blames injury, not lack of cigarettes, for poor Olympic start
- Bill on school bathroom use by transgender students clears Ohio Legislature, heads to governor
- Patrick Mahomes Breaks Silence on Frustrating Robbery Amid Ongoing Investigation
- Love Actually Secrets That Will Be Perfect to You
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- 'This dude is cool': 'Cross' star Aldis Hodge brings realism to literary detective
- Artem Chigvintsev Returns to Dancing With the Stars Ballroom Amid Nikki Garcia Divorce
- Noem’s Cabinet appointment will make a plain-spoken rancher South Dakota’s new governor
Recommendation
Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
John Krasinski is People's Sexiest Man Alive. What that says about us.
Record-setting dry conditions threaten more US wildfires, drinking water supplies
When does Spirit Christmas open? What to know about Spirit Halloween’s new holiday venture
Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
How to protect your Social Security number from the Dark Web
3 Iraqis tortured at Abu Ghraib win $42M judgement against defense contractor
Why Josh O'Connor Calls Sex Scenes Least Sexy Thing After Challengers With Zendaya and Mike Faist