No More Plastic Bags at stores in California [View all]

California supermarkets to undergo major change in 2026

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/california-supermarkets-major-change-2026-21221261.php

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A big change is coming to California supermarkets: The days of a cashier asking “paper or plastic?” are soon to be long gone. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, grocery stores, pharmacies, liquor and convenience stores are set to be banned from distributing any type of plastic bag at the checkout line, even the thicker reusable ones that became common during the pandemic. Moving forward, only paper bags made from recycled material will be offered at the point of sale.

Senate Bill 1053, which was co-authored by state Sen. Catherine Blakespear of District 38 in Southern California, eliminates the thicker plastic bag exemption from previous law. Under SB 270, the language of “single-use carryout bags” allowed for a loophole that plastic bag manufacturers seized on. Thicker plastic bags were not deemed “single use” because they could technically be reused up to 125 times, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.) SB 1053, which was signed into law in 2024, now defines “single-use carryout bags” as simply “carryout bags” and closes that loophole.

“This measure will eliminate the estimated 2-3 billion plastic grocery bags that continue to be distributed in the state annually,” Mark Murray, the executive director of Californians Against Waste, told SFGATE via email. The nonprofit advocacy group focuses on developing policy solutions for pollution and waste that threaten the public and environment, according to its website.