California lawmakers approve bills to ban grocery, retail stores from offering plastic bags

California lawmakers in both houses this week voted to approve a pair of bills that would ban grocery stores and other retailers from handing out multi-use plastic bags to customers.

California already bans stores from offering single-use plastic bags. But proponents of these two bills say that not enough has been done to curb plastic pollution in the state.

The bill would still allow for stores to offer paper bags or bags made of at least 50% post-consumer recycled materials for checkout for a 10-cent fee.

Senate Bill 1053 and Assembly Bill 2236 each passed this week out of their respective houses of origin, just days before the deadline to do so.

SB 1053 passed out of the Senate, 31-7, while AB 2236 passed out of the Assembly, 51-7. Now, each bill heads to the opposite house.

“Plastics are the next front in our fight against Big Oil. By 2050, plastic production will exceed 20% of global oil production,” said AB 2236 author Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, in a statement. “AB 2236 is a critical step to eliminate plastic pollution, and eliminates an opportunity for the oil industry to continue destroying our planet.”

Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, who authored SB 1053, said in a statement that California’s original ban on plastic bags has not worked out as planned.

“We need to do better. Shockingly, some 18 billion pounds of plastic waste flows into the oceans every year from coastal regions alone. California must do its part to eliminate this scourge that is contaminating our environment,” she said.

The bill has a wide range of support, including from environmental groups such as the Ocean Conservancy and the Sierra Club as well as retail groups including the California Grocers Association and Kroger’s.

The bills are opposed by the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance and other plastic industry group.

“Passing this bill would likely trigger increased plastic use through the implementation of (non-woven polypropylene) bags (as happened in New Jersey), eliminate the use of 183 million pounds of recycled content in California each year, exacerbate our carbon footprint, and significantly raise costs for working families,” the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance said in a statement.