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California has become the first state to ban single-use plastic bags statewide.
The ban takes effect for California pharmacies and grocery stores next July and will expand to convenience stores and liquor stores the following year, according to Gov. Jerry Brown, who signed the measure Tuesday prohibiting their use statewide.
The ban on plastic bags already is in effect in Pleasanton and Alameda County.
“This bill is a step in the right direction — it reduces the torrent of plastic polluting our beaches, parks and even the vast ocean itself,” Brown said. “We’re the first to ban these bags, and we won’t be the last.”
But opponents have vowed to repeal the bill before it can take effect and are gathering signatures for a ballot initiative.
“If this law were allowed to go into effect it would jeopardize thousands of California manufacturing jobs, hurt the environment, and fleece consumers for billions so grocery store shareholders and their union partners can line their pocket,” the American Progressive Bag Alliance, a group of bag manufacturers, said in a statement Tuesday.
Over a third of California had already enacted a plastic bag ban — 127 local governments have passed similar legislation since 2007, including countywide bans San Francisco, Alameda and Santa Cruz counties and municipal bans in more than a dozen Bay Area cities, according to the statewide bill’s sponsor, Californians Against Waste.
“California policy makers spent a great deal of time debating the merits of this issue over the last several months,” Californians Against Waste executive director Mark Murray said. “In the end, it was the reports of overwhelming success of this policy at the local level that overcame the political attacks and misinformation from out-of-state plastic bag makers.”
The bill was introduced last year by state Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) and passed by the state Assembly and Senate last month.
The new law allows stores to use paper bags, but requires them to be made from recycled paper and stores must charge 10 cents a piece for them.
Stores may also sell reusable grocery bags or compostable bags for at least 10 cents each, but can only sell compostable bags if curbside pickup for compost is available.
The state will provide up to $2 million in loans from CalRecycle to assist businesses in adjusting to the new policies.
“A throw-away society is not sustainable,” Padilla said in a statement Tuesday. “This new law will greatly reduce the flow of billions of single-use plastic bags that litter our communities and harm our environment each year.”
Proponents, including the California Grocers Association, hailed the bill’s passage Tuesday, but opponents gathering signatures for the ballot initiative say that their research shows a majority of Californians oppose the ban.
“Since state lawmakers failed their constituents by approving this terrible bill, we will take the question directly to the public and have great faith they will repeal it at the ballot box,” the American Progressive Bag Alliance said.
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