Big Win: California Upholds Plastic Bag Ban

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): A major legal win has closed longstanding loopholes in California’s plastic bag ban after advocates, including Plastic Pollution Coalition and The Last Beach Cleanup, pushed for accountability for more than a decade. On October 17, 2025, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a settlement between California and four large plastic bag manufacturers, requiring the companies stop selling single-use plastic bags in the state and pay $1.7 million in penalties for falsely claiming their products were recyclable. 

Although California banned single-use plastic bags in 2014, and voters upheld that ban with Prop 67 in 2016, some plastic bag manufacturers exploited loopholes in the law enabling them to continue to violate the ban for years. Prop 67 allowed exceptions in California’s plastic bag ban for thicker “reusable” plastic bags and those labeled “recyclable in the state.” Several plastic bag manufacturers falsely claimed that their thicker bags met those criteria and misled shoppers by labeling single-use plastic bags with the chasing arrows symbol, suggesting recyclability. This despite the fact that they could not prove that California recycling facilities are actually capable of accepting and recycling any of these plastic bags.

Governor Newsom had already passed “fix-it” bill SB 1053 last year in an attempt to phase out these thicker bags and close the bag ban loopholes at the start of 2026. However, this settlement not only expedites the necessary closure of loopholes in the state’s bag ban, but also requires the companies to return profits from bag sales and pay additional penalties to the tune of $1.1 million in civil penalties and $636,250 in attorney fees and costs. 

Meanwhile, three other large plastic bag producers declined to settle, so Attorney General Bonta announced a lawsuit on Friday to hold them accountable for continuing to violate state law by selling plastic bags.

 Courtesy: www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org