A man leaves a Nature Shop in San Francisco in 2007 with a bag of groceries in a plastic bag made of recyclable material. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a plastic bag ban Sunday. (Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES – California is taking climate-saving efforts to the next level with a full ban on plastic bags and a state lawsuit against natural gas giant ExxonMobil. Gov. Gavin Newsom approved new legislation Sunday prohibiting stores from providing plastic bags starting in 2026. Senate Bill 1053 replaces 2014 legislation that prohibited stores from providing customers with “single-use carryout bags” that left room for thicker, multi use plastic bags. Though the thicker plastic allowed for more use out of one bag, it didn’t decrease the number of shopping bags thrown out. Comparisons of CalRecycle’s yearly reports revealed the weight of plastic grocery and merchandise bags found in California landfills had climbed about 80% between 2014 and 2021. The American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance, a lobbying group for plastic bag manufacturers and recyclers, and fights for reusable plastics rather than banning or taxing plastic bags. It instead advocates for existing recycling programs, provides education on proper recycling habits and supports public policy that promotes recycling. ARPBA does not support California’s bag ban. “While bans will eliminate plastic carryout bags from the marketplace, forcing stores and shoppers to switch to alternative products with greater environmental impacts that are rarely reused enough to be more sustainable will not help our shared environment,” the organization said on its website. In addition to public policy changes that aim to reduce plastic waste, California is suing natural gas and chemical giant ExxonMobil over its recycling processes. California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit Sunday, claiming the company allegedly created a “campaign of deception” regarding […]
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