New California law means a big change for grocery shoppers in 2026

Plastic grocery bags will start vanishing from California grocery stores after Jan. 1, when restrictions are set to tighten as part of the state’s campaign to keep the bags from clogging waterways and landfills.

California technically banned plastic grocery bags more than a decade ago, in 2014. But at the urging of plastic and grocery lobbyists, that law left an exception for thicker plastic bags that can theoretically be reused 125 times. It didn’t take long for the bulkier bags — which use more plastic and are still often thrown away after a single use — to become standard at grocery store registers.