Starting in January, Californians will see the rollout of a law requiring that those thin plastic bags torn off the roll in grocery stores to bag loose food items — like fruits, vegetables, baked goods, and nuts, grains or candy in bulk barrels — must be certified for decomposing in an industrial composter. The same is true for thin bags used to prevent one food item, like meat or fish, from contaminating others.
Industrial composting provides specific conditions, such as high temperatures, not achievable via backyard composting. Standards for compostable are set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). The Biodegradable Products Institute, or BPI, is the third-party entity which verifies that ASTM standards are met.
The good news about the new law is that plastic bags stamped with the BPI Compostable Trademark are eligible for capture in waste streams destined for industrial composting. For decades now, the thin produce bags stores have provided are made of petroleum-based plastic which renders them non-compostable as well as non-biodegradable. Consequently, the only proper disposal option has been tossing in the landfill waste stream.
Under the new bag law, companies which pick up curbside waste from homes and businesses have the opportunity to divert a sizable amount of conventional plastic waste from our landfills to recycling via composting. The three major waste collection services in Orange County are CR&R, Waste Management, and Republic Services.
Throughout Orange County, CR&R is already accepting certified compostable plastic bags in their green ORGANICS curbside waste carts, along with the usual yard cuttings and kitchen food waste scraps. Republic Services is not yet offering this option in any of its service areas.
In response to an inquiry at Waste Management’s Corporate Office asking if compostable plastic bags are yet being accepted in their green ORGANICS carts, or if there are plans to do so by January, the official response from the Public Sector Services department was “we must respectfully decline due to the complexity of the topic.”
In case you haven’t heard, waste collectors are already required to accept kitchen food scraps in their green ORGANICS carts as a consequence of a previous California law. Moreover, residents and businesses can even be fined for tossing food waste in the LANDFILL cart.
Compostable bags are made from materials like vegetable starches. In addition to lightening the burden of non-biodegradable plastics on our landfills, compostable bags decrease consumption of fossil fuels, promote soil enrichment, and reduce pollution of the environment from non-biodegradable plastic debris and harmful chemicals associated with conventional plastics.
Compostable produce bags are handy too in that they can be used to line kitchen food scrap pails. This makes it less messy to toss the pail contents into the ORGANICS cart, assuming that the waste collection service is accepting compostable bags in that cart too. Other compostable bags fashioned specifically for food scrap pails are available online as well.
A noteworthy alternative to bagging food waste is to wrap it into a small amount of newspaper and toss that into the ORGANICS cart.
Grocery stores can opt to comply with the new bag law by offering, instead, recycled paper bags for the same purposes. Note, however, that items which arrive at the store already in plastic bags — like bagged apples and grapes — are not impacted by the new law. Those bags can still be of conventional plastic so should be discarded in the LANDFILL cart.
As of this writing, few if any of the larger chain grocers in Orange County have yet replaced thin conventional plastic bags with compostable ones. However, all four Gelson’s Markets in the county have. And, Trader Joe’s earns a special shoutout because their produce bags throughout the county and state are certified for both industrial and backyard home composting, according to the corporate office.
Bags certified for home composting carry a separate label, HOME OK Compost. They break down in home composters too.
However, home composting enthusiasts who own dogs should understand that even if you put dog poop in a certified home compostable bag, it should nonetheless be discarded in the LANDFILL cart.
Big box retail establishments throughout the state, such as Target, Walmart, and Costco, will also be required to comply with the new law, as will smaller entities like convenience food stores and foodmarts.
A separate law affecting shoppers and stores alike will land in Jan. 2026. The thicker plastic film carryout bags consumers have been able to purchase at checkout for 10 cents at some stores (and considered reusable) will be banned. Only recycled paper bags will be offered to shoppers who neglect to bring their own carryout bags. The hit will still be 10 cents per bag.
The logic for that ban rests, in large part, on the fact that few shoppers reuse the thicker plastic carryouts. They are typically discarded to landfills, just like their thinner, single-use counterparts before them. The intended purpose of offering thicker plastic carryouts, to reduce consumption of conventional plastics, failed.
Genuinely reusable, attractive, and affordable carryout bags, made of a variety of materials, are sold everywhere. Smaller reusable produce-type bags, made for example of canvas or see-through mesh, are also widely available.
These two upcoming plastic bag laws warrant our embrace, as they empower us to be better stewards of our beautiful southern California environment.
Sarah Mosko, a resident of Laguna Beach, is a psychologist and freelance environmental journalist. She is passionate about current environmental problems and their practical solutions with the goal of fostering a sustainable healthy future for southern California.
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