California: First State to Phase Out Pre-Checkout Bags, Single-Use Plastics From Grocery Stores

The thin, transparent pre-checkout bags as well as other single-use plastics have been phased out of California's grocery stores as the first state to do so.

Manual cash registers and green stamps are being replaced by large rolls of thin, translucent plastic bags that are frequently used just once to hold vegetables and fruits or to wrap around packages of meat before being thrown in the trash.

Signed Bill 1046

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law late last week, making California the first state to phase out the use of single-use plastic produce bags in grocery stores nationwide. The pre-checkout bags, as they are known in grocery stores, must be replaced by recycled paper bags or compostable plastic bags no later than January 1, 2025.

Nick Lapis, the director of advocacy for Californians Against Waste, pointed out that this type of plastic material is not recyclable and contaminates nearly every bin it is placed in. The bill was supported by the environmental organization Californians Against Waste.

He added that It contaminates compost, flies around landfills, flies out of trucks, and gets stuck on the gears at recycling facilities. The team wants to eliminate this problematic product.

The Senate passed Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman's (D-Stockton) bill, SB 1046, largely along party lines, with the majority of Democrats voting in favor.

2025 to Fully Phase Out Single-Use Plastics

To give manufacturers more time to ramp up, the Grocer's Association requested in an April letter to Eggman that supermarkets be given until 2025 rather than 2023 to phase in the proposed new compostable bags. Eggman agreed to the delay but rejected the group's request that the bill prohibits local governments from enacting similar regulations or imposing fines on retailers who use single-use plastic produce bags.

Leticia Garcia, the director of state government relations for the California Grocers Association, said that they are crucial in defending consumers against potential food contamination and (possibly) illnesses brought on by raw packaged meats coming into contact with other goods. When breakables, such as wine bottles, are put in grocery bags along with other products, these bags also add an extra layer of security.

Read also: Microplastic Pollution: California State Government Adopts Strategy of Microplastic Cleanup 

No Need to Ban Bags

Compostable produce bags are already used in some grocery stores. To decrease the use of plastic, foam containers, and other packaging, Trader Joe's installed them in every one of its stores in 2019.

Lapis stated that they are only requiring a more environmentally friendly type of bag, not outright banning plastic bags. People will still have a non-leaking place to store their fruits and vegetables.

Less Plastic Bag Garbage

During California's yearly Coastal Cleanup Day from 2010 to 2019, volunteers collected 25,768 fewer plastic bags from beaches, creeks, and lakes than they did in 2010, a 61% decrease from 65,736 to 25,736.

Eben Schwartz, a marine debris manager from the California Coastal Commission, said that the quantity of plastic bags they are picking up has steadily decreased, they observed. Plastic bags had frequently been among the upper five items discovered by teams, but they were no longer in the top 10, The Mercury News reports.

Related article: Single-Use Plastic Ban in London Gets Shoppers to Use Alternatives Made of Bamboo and Corn