California passed a ban on single-use plastic bags in 2014
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California's plastic bag ban has backfired and led to much more plastic waste, according to a new report from a consumer advocacy group.
Ten years ago, the Golden State passed SB 270, a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery, drug and convenience stores, in efforts to reduce the amount of plastic waste and encourage the public to use reusable bags. However, material recovery facilities and environmental activists have documented a dramatic increase in plastic bag waste since the ban was passed, The Los Angeles Times reported on Monday.
According to a new report from the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG), the plastic ban contained a "loophole" allowing businesses to offer thicker "reusable" plastic bags at checkout for a small fee; however, many consumers just threw those out after a single use as well.
As a result, there's been a 47% jump in plastic bag waste tonnage, the group claims.
NEW CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT BILL WOULD BAN ALL PLASTIC BAGS AT GROCERY STORES
California passed a ban on single-use plastic bags a decade ago. (Getty Images )
The Times reported, "157,385 tons of plastic bag waste was discarded in California the year the law was passed. By 2022, however, the tonnage of discarded plastic bags had skyrocketed to 231,072 — a 47% jump. Even accounting for an increase in population, the number rose from 4.08 tons per 1,000 people in 2014 to 5.89 tons per 1,000 people in 2022."
The alternative reusable bags are made from a material known as HDPE, which is thicker and heavier than the LDPE bags stores used to offer. Both materials can be recycled but are not usually in residential and consumer settings, environmental group leader Mark Murray, director of Californians Against Waste, told the Times.
Allowing stores to offer the thicker reusable plastic bags backfired, he concluded.
"That experiment failed," he said.
Some Democrats in the state are now proposing new legislation that would ban all plastic bags at grocery stores as a solution.
NEW CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT BILL WOULD BAN ALL PLASTIC BAGS AT GROCERY STORES
California Democratic state Senator Catherine Blakespear gestures toward a person covered in plastic bags during a news conference at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP/Adam Beam)
"If you have been paying attention – if you read the news at all in recent years – you know we are choking our planet with plastic waste," Democratic state Sen. Catherine Blakespear said in a press release.
She and State Senator Ben Allen's bill, SB 1053, along with AB 2236, introduced by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, would ban stores from offering the heavier plastic bag options at grocery stores and retailers.
"A plastic bag has an average lifespan of 12 minutes and then it is discarded, often clogging sewage drains, contaminating our drinking water and degenerating into toxic microplastics that fester in our oceans and landfills for up to 1,000 years. 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," Blakespear continued.
After California passed its historic plastic bag ban legislation in 2014, several other states followed with their own plastic bag bans.
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A recent study found New Jersey's ban on single-use bags resulted in a nearly 3x increase in plastic consumption for bags. (Getty Images )
In 2022, California also began phasing out the single-use plastic bags commonly used to protect produce and meats from being damaged or contaminating other foods in a shopper’s cart.
However, a recent study found New Jersey's single-use plastic bag ban had also backfired at a staggering rate.
"Following New Jersey’s ban of single-use bags, the shift from plastic film to alternative bags resulted in a nearly 3x increase in plastic consumption for bags," Freedonia Custom Research (FCR), a business research division for MarketResearch.com, reported in a study published in January.
Fox News' Emma Colton contributed to this report.
Kristine Parks is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Read more.
