California to Ban Plastic Bags for Produce

Pre-checkout bags, to include plastic bags for produce, will be banned in California effective January 1, 2025, unless they are compostable or are recycled paper bags. The legislation, SB-1046, amended Section 42357 and added Section 24481.2 to the California Public Resources Code. These sections relate to solid waste.

The new law defines a “pre-checkout bag” as “a bag provided to a customer before the customer reaches the point of sale, that is designed to protect a purchased item from damaging or contaminating other purchased items in a checkout bag, or to contain an unwrapped food item, such as, but not limited to, loose produce, meat or fish, nuts, grains, candy, and bakery goods.”

SB-1046 was introduced on February 15, 2022, passed by the California Assembly on August 18, passed by the Senate on August 24, and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 30, 2022.