Analysis showing plastic bag bans help prevent plastic pollution HERE

WASHINGTON – Today, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 1053 into law, fully banning grocery bags and amending California’s previous bag ban that had allowed for thicker plastic film bags under the guise that they were “reusable.” It was shown that these thicker bags were often not reused and instead treated like single-use bags, paving the way for this amendment to the legislation. In response to the governor signing SB 1053, Ocean Conservancy’s Director of Plastics Policy Dr. Anja Brandon and an environmental engineer who has helped draft landmark state and national legislation regulating plastic pollution in recent years, made the following statement:

“Plastic grocery bags have ranked in the top ten most commonly collected items by California Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers in seven of the last 10 years. Over that decade, volunteers have cleaned up enough plastic bags to span the length of the Golden Gate Bridge nearly 30 times. Plastic grocery bags are not only one of the most common plastics polluting our beaches, but also one of the top five deadliest forms of plastic pollution to marine life. But we have a simple solution that has been shown to reduce this type of plastic pollution: banning them. We thank Senator Blakespear, Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan, and Governor Newsom for working with advocates to make this bill a reality.” .

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ADDITIONAL CONTEXT FOR REPORTERS

• A new analysis by Ocean Conservancy scientists shows a meaningful reduction in plastic grocery bags found on beaches following an increase in statewide plastic bag bans.
• On average, plastic grocery bags are used for only 12 minutes before being thrown away, and Americans use 100 billion plastic grocery bags each year – many of which end up polluting the environment.

• Since 1986, Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) volunteers have collected nearly 3 million plastic grocery bags from beaches and waterways in the United States – enough to cover 150 football fields.

• Plastic bags are also among the top five deadliest forms of ocean plastic pollution according to Ocean Conservancy research. Turtles and other sea life often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and ingest them.

If you would like to set up an interview with one of Ocean Conservancy’s scientists or policy experts, please contact Roya Fox at [email protected] or 202.280.6285.

The plastic grocery bag ban one-pager can be found HERE.

ABOUT OCEAN CONSERVANCY  Ocean Conservancy is working to protect the ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Together with our partners, we create evidence-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it. For more information, visit oceanconservancy.org, or follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram.