On Thursday, Feb. 8, California State Senator Catherine Blakespear announced legislation for a statewide ban on all plastic bags. Blakespear, working alongside State Senator Ben Allen and Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, spearheaded SB 1053 and AB 2236, bills that are hoping to eliminate the usage of unwoven plastic bags at all grocery, convenience and retail stores in California by 2026. Although Senator Blakespear’s proposal seems daunting, this new bill addresses an easily forgotten aspect of climate change — plastic pollution — while encouraging consumers to focus less on recycling and more on re-using.
Plastic bags began controlling up to 80% of the European market in 1979 before it spread to other nations including the United States (U.S.). Within 20 years of the plastic bag market explosion, scientists had begun pointing toward a significant accumulation of plastic in the ocean. Bangladesh became the first country to address the plastic pollution problem by implementing a 2002 ban on thin plastic bags. As the impact of climate change and global warming gained more international attention, plastic was coupled with other aspects of climate change, such as the expulsion of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and deforestation.
California’s journey against plastic bags began with the first ban on non-compostable plastic bags in San Francisco. This paved the way for other environmentally friendly legislature within California and the enactment of plastic bag bans in other states nationwide. According to Blakespear, SB 1053 is a necessary step in improving California’s original plastic bag ban, SB 270 and ensuring a much more successful implementation this time around. SB 270, a 2014 bill that banned single-use plastic bag usage and required stores to charge at least 10 cents per bag, was monumental in dissuading consumers from purchasing plastic bags, but it failed to reduce the trashing of these plastic bags.
As it is still the inception of SB 1053, Blakespear, Allen and Bauer-Kahan have not released any information about how they will tackle the continued use of plastic bags by consumers and possible implementation strategies and administration they hope to use. However, the primary objective is to amend SB 270 and address unperceived weaknesses.
Blakespear, Allen and Bauer-Kahan referenced data collected six months after the initial plastic bag ban showed an 85% reduction in the number of plastic bags and 61% in the number of paper bags. Despite what look to be positive signs and a reduction in usage, the opposite was proven after looking at statewide statistics. In total, California contributes about 12,000 tons of plastic to landfills every day. ABC News experimented in 2023 to see what happens to plastic bags after consumers use them. This experiment included micro trackers placed in Target and Walmart plastic bags before they were given to consumers. Eventually, it was concluded that less than 10% of purchased plastic bags were recycled.
Senator Blakespear’s willingness to stick to this issue and make the necessary changes to ensure the smooth implementation of this ban shows her dedication to facilitating protective environmental actions. The framing of this bill in the eyes of the public can play a role in its future public adherence and perception. Past studies found that over 60% of U.S. adults reported recycling almost all of their household’s plastic, showing awareness of the role of plastic in climate change. It is unlikely that consumers would be more open to this change if Blakespear approached this issue from a place of assigning fault.
SB 1053’s goal to mitigate plastic from California opens up conversations about other unnecessary forms of plastic, such as food wrappers, plastic bottles and straws, that can add to pollution alongside grocery bags. Focusing on reusing already purchased plastic bags still makes a meaningful contribution in lessening statewide pollution as thicker plastic bags, which are technically reusable, have also been contributing to the accumulation of plastic pollution.
