California to ban stores from providing the little plastic bags grocery shoppers often use to stow produce



California, a state known for its onerous regulations caused by left-wing policies, has approved legislation to ban stores from providing those helpful little plastic bags that consumers commonly use to store produce while shopping at the supermarket.

The new rule is slated to go into effect on January 1, 2025, but even after it takes hold, stores will still be allowed to offer compostable bags and recycled paper bags, according to the bill.

The text of the bill states that "a 'precheckout bag' means 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. 'Precheckout bag' does not include a bag used to prepackage items prior to their arrival in a store."

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who survived a gubernatorial recall contest last year and is currently running for reelection, signed the measure in late September.

"This kind of plastic film is not recyclable. It's a contaminant in almost any bin you put it into," director of advocacy for Californians Against Waste Nick Lapis said, according to the Mercury News, which noted that Californians Against Waste backed the measure. "It flies around landfills and flies out of trucks. It gets stuck on gears at recycling facilities. And it contaminates compost. It’s a problematic product we want to get rid of."

This new rule comes in addition to the state's current ban on providing customers with single-use plastic bags to carry their purchases out of a store — Golden State voters gave the green light to that regulation when they backed Proposition 67 back in 2016.

New Jersey banned supermarkets from providing plastic and paper bags — now people are apparently taking shopping baskets from stores



New Jersey's ban blocking various stores from providing customers with plastic bags is apparently causing a problem as some grocery stores experience the theft of plastic shopping baskets.

"They are just disappearing," noted Louis Scaduto Jr. of Food Circus Super Markets, which owns several Super Foodtown stores in Monmouth County, according to Asbury Park Press. "I may actually have to just do away with them soon, can't afford to keep replacing them," he communicated via text message, according to the outlet. Scaduto's LinkedIn profile indicates that he is the "President / CEO / Co Owner of Food Circus Supermarkets, Inc."

Asbury Park Press reported that Stop & Shop noted in a statement, "Like other retailers across the state, we have experienced theft of our handheld shopping baskets — an unintended consequence of the ban on plastic and paper bags."

The ban took effect earlier this year on May 4, according to business.nj.gov. "New Jersey retail stores, grocery stores and food service businesses may not provide or sell single-use plastic carryout bags and polystyrene foam food service products," the website states.

The state not only banned grocery stores from providing customers with plastic bags, it also banned large supermarkets from offering paper bags. "Single-use paper carryout bags are allowed to be provided or sold, except by grocery stores equal to or larger than 2,500 square feet, which may only provide or sell reusable carryout bags," the New Jersey website notes.

"We are aware of random reports that grocers are experiencing the loss of these hand baskets to varying degree," president and CEO of the New Jersey Food Council Linda Doherty noted in a statement, according to the outlet. "We view this as a short unintended consequence of the new state law."

"Some stores are also posting signs to remind customers to keep handbaskets in the store and using in store public address systems with similar messaging," Doherty noted. "We think in most cases people simply forgot to bring them back."