A California bill to close a loophole in the state’s ban on single-use plastic bags passed its first legislative committee hearing on Wednesday.
In a 5-2 vote, the State Environmental Quality Committee approved Senate Bill 1053.
The bill would remove a provision in the original ban from a decade ago, which allowed stores to use thicker, reusable bags made from recycled plastic film.
“This legislation stops the use of plastic film bags that are currently sold at checkout to consumers by most stores. Those types of bags were allowed in the original ban on single use plastic bags passed in 2014 because they were deemed recyclable and reusable,” according to a statement by the bill’s author, Sen. Catherine Blakespear.
The 2014 ban allowed grocers to charge ten cents for those bags and keep the profit. But studies have found that the bags are difficult to recycle and seldom reused. Instead, they have contributed to California’s growing plastic waste, according to the senator.
“The truth is almost none of those bags are recycled and they end up in landfills, polluting the environment,” she said.
The amount of grocery and merchandise bags disposed of by Californians grew from 157,385 tons of plastic bags the year California passed the bag ban to 231,072 tons by 2022, which is a 47 percent increase, according to CalRecycle.
The bill faces pushback from plastics manufacturers and recyclers who argue that eliminating the use of these plastic film bags may lead to unintended consequences, including the elimination of green manufacturing jobs.
Sen. Brian Dahle said he supports some aspects of the regulation and acknowledged that it would be a good job creator for his district. He supports the use of paper bags because his district is heavily forested and thinning the forest helps reduce fire. But he also called it government overreach and argued that the state should prioritize more pressing issues.
“#California has a massive budget deficit, soaring crime, highest in the nation utility rates, a housing crisis, and a failing educational system—we should be addressing those critical issues, not adding another item to ban in California,” the state senator said in a post on social media platform X.
Lawmakers have acknowledged that the original 2014 law meant to reduce plastic waste didn’t work as originally intended.
“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,” Ms. Blakespear said.
“We learned a lot in the years between those efforts, but since its conception, our bag ban policy has fallen behind those in other states. We can and must do better. Consumers are ready to put this issue to bed and move away from plastic grocery bags altogether,” according to a statement by Sen. Ben Allen.
SB 1053 would also change the requirement for stores to provide paper bags made out of 40 percent recycled material, increasing it to 100 percent recycled material.
The bill now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration.
