California Governor signs law to ban plastic bags from grocery store checkouts

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation to ban the distribution of all plastic bags at grocery store checkouts on Sept. 22.

The SB 1053 bill aims to correct shortcomings in California's previous single-use plastic bag ban, approved in 2016.

The previous bill resulted in an increase of plastic being sent to landfills as many consumers opted not to reuse the thicker plastic carryout bags.

The newly signed bill will ban both single-use plastic bags and the thicker "reusable" bags introduced after the 2016 ban, meaning stores will only offer paper bags after the bill is implemented on Jan. 1, 2026.

As an increasing number of companies commit to sustainability agreements, there has been a rise in demand for recycled plastic to be used in the products they manufacture.

However, participants in the recycled plastics market said this bill could tighten the supply of recycled polyethylene, which could lead to a suspension of processing operations for returned plastic bags from stores.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, last assessed post-consumer HDPE natural bales at 50 cents/lb FOB Chicago, post-consumer LDPE grade A bales at 17.5 cents/lb FOB Chicago, and post-consumer PET curbside bales at 20 cents/lb FOB Chicago on Sept 23.