This database includes up-to-date information on California plastic laws. 

Each tab follows the following format: 

• A summary of one statewide plastic law. 
  
  
• Where to report violations if you witness that the law is not being observed. 
  
  
• Links to additional information on each law, i.e. the bill that created the law and/or a summary webpage.

Surfrider strives to keep the information in this database up-to-date and accurate, however we cannot guarantee that all information contained herein is correct. Please email RAP@sandiego.surfrider.org if you have additional information, would like to point out a potential error, or have questions about the information in this database.

Existing Law (SB 270)

• Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban - 
  • Single-use plastic carryout bags cannot be provided at checkout at the following stores: 
    • Grocery stores.
    • Convenience stores, food marts, & liquor stores.
    • Retail stores with a pharmacy.
  • These stores may only sell "reusable bags"* or recycled paper bags for a minimum price of $.10 each. 
  • Everyone is encouraged to bring their own reusable bags for shopping.
    
    

Beginning Jan 1, 2024 (SB 1053)

• Reusable plastic bags banned at checkout. 
• Affected stores may only sell “recycled paper bags” for a minimum price of $.10 each
  
  • Recycled paper bags must contain a minimum of 40% postconsumer recycled materials. Starting Jan 1, 2028, the minimum requirement jumps to 50%. 

Reporting Non-Compliance

• Report bag ban violations to:
  • CA Attorney General complaint form. 
  • You can also report violations to your City Attorney, or County Attorney if it’s in unincorporated San Diego County. 

SB 270 bill text + Bag Ban info from CalRecycle. SB 1053 bill text

* See our FAQ section at bottom of this page for more info on what constitutes a reusable bag 

• Skip The Stuff - 

• • Straws, utensils, condiments, and other disposable foodware accessories can only be given upon customer request for on-premises dining (drive-thrus & airport eateries may offer them).  
  • 3rd party delivery platforms must comply by allowing you to select what, if any, accessories you would like with your order. If none are selected, you should not receive any. 
  • Businesses may not bundle multiple accessories together, i.e. utensils and a napkin in a bag. 
  • Self-serve stations at restaurants are permitted. 
    
    

Reporting Non-Compliance

• Statewide Skip The Stuff law is enforced locally. Please use the code enforcement contact information provided for each city below  Code enforcement information can be found via an internet search for other cities and/or the County. 

AB 1276 (Skip The Stuff) bill text + info sheet.

• Pre-Checkout Plastic Bag Ban
  • Pre-checkout bags (produce bags, bulk bin bags, etc.) cannot be plastic. They must be either certified compostable, or a recycled paper bag. 
  • This law applies to the same stores as the statewide single-use plastic bag ban:
    • Grocery stores
    • Convenience stores, food marts, & liquor stores
    • Retail stores with a pharmacy 

Reporting Non-Compliance

• Report bag ban violations to:
  • CA Attorney General complaint form. 
  • You can also report violations to your City Attorney, or County Attorney if it’s in unincorporated San Diego County. 

SB 1046 (pre-checkout laws) info + text.

• BYO Containers & Cups
  • CA Health Code allows for foodservice employees to fill a customer’s cup, i.e. bringing your own reusable cup to get coffee to-go.
  • CA Health Code allows for foodservice employees to put food in a customer’s reusable container as well, so long as it’s done in a separate area from where the food is prepared. 
  • However, businesses are not required to accept customer cups and containers at this time. 
    
    

Reporting Non-Compliance

• Not an option because these laws do not place any requirements on businesses to comply

AB 619 (BYO container) info + text. BYO cup was already admissable via CA Health Code prior to the passage of AB 619 in 2019 (CA Health Code Section 114075

SB 54 is the most comprehensive plastic pollution reduction law in the state. Rather than prohibiting specific single-use plastic items, the law set statewide mandates for reducing single-use plastic packaging and foodware. It also set recycling and compostability goals, and requires companies that produce plastic packaging and foodware (i.e. covered materials) to pay into a fund that will help cover the costs of implementation and cleanup.

• Requires the following goals to be met by 2032:
  • 25% total reduction of single-use plastic packaging and foodware
  • 65% recycling rate of single-use plastic packaging and foodware
  • 100% of ALL single-use packaging and foodware must be recyclable or compostable

• Bans foam foodware if the following recycling rates are not met:
  • 25% by Jan 1, 2025
  • Required recycling rate goes up every two years: 30% by 2028, 50% by 2030, and 65% by 2032
  • Considering that foam foodware recycling rates are currently in the low single digits, Surfrider considers this a de facto ban. 

• SB 54 also requires plastic packaging and foodware producers to pay fees based on how much of the covered materials they produce, among other things. The funding must be spent on implementing the requirements of SB 54, including reimbursing state and local agencies for said costs. 
  

Reporting Non-Compliance

• We will update this section as soon as elements of SB 54 go into effect and are enforceable 

SB 54 language and information from CalRecycle

Effective Jan 1, 2025

SB 343 prohibits  deceptive environmental marketing claims on products sold in California, namely regarding recyclability but also including more general terms like “green” and “eco-friendly.”
SB 343 mandates the following:

• A product label can only include a chasing arrows symbol or, any statement indicating the product is recyclable, if the material is widely recycled in the state of California. The material must be:
  • Accepted and effectively recycled in municipal recycling programs that encompass at least 60% of the state population
  • Free from labels, dyes, inks, or chemicals that prevent the product from being recycled
  • Free from intentionally added PFAS, and containing less than 100 parts per million in total PFAS
  • If a qualified recyclable product contains multiple materials, and only some are recyclable, the product must include instructions on how to separate the non-recyclable material(s)
    

• Producers who use environmental marketing terms such as “earth friendly,” “eco friendly,” “green,” or similar must maintain specific documentation to legitimize those claims, and must provide that documentation to any member of the public who requests it. This includes documentation regarding recyclability if the product is labeled as such.
  
  
• Plastic bottles must include a resin identification code (plastic resin numbers 1-7)

Reporting Non-Compliance

CalRecycle has oversight; enforcement for SB 343 will likely be handled at the state level. 

• Report violations to the CA Attorney General complaint form
• The law requires companies to respond to consumer inquiries about the environmental claims they make, so reaching out to them directly is also a great first-resort option. 
• Local Jurisdictions and the California Attorney General may also use information from CalRecycle when filing civil suits and charging monetary penalties against companies who are not labeling their products accurately. Deceptive labeling is also subject to civil suits pursuant to the Business and Professions Code.

SB 343 language and CalRecycle page

 Enforcement goes into effect Jan 1, 2026

AB 1201 prohibits any products sold in California from being labeled “compostable” or “home compostable” unless they meet very strict criteria. Strict labeling standards for compostable products will lessen confusion among consumers and businesses over what products are compostable, and how they should be discarded. Labeling requirements are also necessary to reduce contamination and greenwashing, especially now that curbside organics recycling (i.e. composting) is widespread in California due to an earlier bill, SB 1383, which required all cities to offer curbside compost services. 

• In order to be labeled as such, any product solid in California must meet the following standards:
  •  ASTM D6400 and D6868 specification standards for commercial composting, or
  •  TUV Austria’s OK Compost Home standards for home composting.
  • Most importantly, all products must meet  US Department of Agriculture National Organic Program (NOP) standards.

• Essentially, a product labeled compostable cannot contain synthetic chemicals or toxins, including PFAS and plastics that do not fully break down into organic building blocks.

AB 1201 will bar many so-called compostable bioplastic foodware and packaging products from being labeled “compostable” unless they break down into organic material suitable for agricultural use. 

Reporting Non-Compliance

Enforcement for AB 1201 will be handled at the state level. 

• Report violations to the CA Attorney General complaint form
• The law requires companies to respond to consumer inquiries about the environmental claims they make, so reaching out to them directly is also a great first-resort option. 

AB 1201 text, Californians Against Waste page

For the purposes of the state bag ban (SB 270), the definition of a “reusable bag” only refers to reusable carryout bags that affected stores are allowed to provide at checkout. It’s not an overarching definition for all reusable bags sold in California. The complete definition is detailed in Section 42281 of the CA Municipal Code (see bullets at bottom of this section).

The thicker, “reusable” plastic bags that most grocers sell for $.10 at checkout are a direct result of this definition. Plastic bag manufacturers created these thicker plastic bags as the cheapest option that conforms to the state reusable bag definition.

The resulting proliferation of cheap, plastic “reusable” bags is widely considered to be the biggest failure of the California bag ban. The ban was supposed to incentivize shoppers to bring their own reusable bags to grocery stores, leading to a decrease in single-use plastic bag production and pollution. Instead, CalRecycle’s 2021 waste characterization study shows that Californians are throwing away more plastic bags than ever before. Basically, most shoppers do not reuse the thicker  plastic bags.

Photo: Janis Jones

Surfrider supported two companion state bills,  SB 1053 and AB 2236, that sought to fix the state bag ban's unintended consequences by completely eliminating plastic bags from grocery store checkouts statewide. On September 22, 2024, SB 1053 was signed by the Governor. Starting January 1, 2026, grocers and other affected stores will only be able to provide a recycled paper bag at checkout. 

SB 1053 will not affect any of the city-level bag ban expansions that include additional businesses aside from grocery stores and convenience stores.

Below is a summary of the state reusable bag definition from CalRecycle. Please note that this definition will expire on Jan 1, 2026, and affected stores will only be able to provide recycled paper bags. 

Generally, reusable bags must: 

• Be certified to satisfy legal requirements. The certification must be provided by a single third-party certification entity that is either:
  • An ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory or
  • An ISO/IEC 17065 certification body
• Have a handle and be designed for at least 125 uses;
• Have a volume capacity of at least 15 liters (about 4 gallons);
• Be machine washable or capable of being cleaned and disinfected; and
• Have printed on the bag:
  • The manufacturer’s name and country
  • A statement that the bag is a reusable bag designed for at least 125 uses printed on the bag or on a tag
  • Recycling instructions if the bag is recyclable

Let's address this question based on the purpose of ensuring compliance to state and local plastic laws that require foodware to be recyclable, biodegradable, or compostable. 

Fortunately, local plastic reduction ordinances typically define what those terms mean in the ordinance. In almost every one, recyclable is defined as an item that must be accepted in that city’s curbside recycling program. 

If you live in a city that requires plastic foodware to be recyclable, the best way to know what conforms is by going onto your city website to check. Example: San Marcos requires foodware to be recyclable or compostable, meaning plastic is allowed if it’s accepted in their curbside recycling program. San Marcos contracts with EDCO for waste hauling; a list of what EDCO accepts can be found HERE. 

We'll attempt to further explain why recycling is confusing in the next dropdown.

Generally speaking, recycling is confusing because in the absence of any specific federal or state recycling standards, it falls upon each individual municipality to institute their own curbside recycling program. Therefore, what a city accepts as “recyclable” varies based on who they contract with for waste hauling. This means different cities, even neighboring ones, may have different recycling rules. 

However, the general trend for plastics is that much less of it gets recycled than we typically assume. Here are a few key points to remember about plastics recycling: 

• Plastic bags, film, wrappers, and any soft plastic that you can bunch up in your hands, are NOT accepted for curbside recycling in San Diego County (or anywhere else, to our knowledge). In fact, plastic bags are the #1 contaminant at material recovery facilities because they clog up the sorting machinery. This is one reason why recyclables cannot be bagged, and must remain loose inside your curbside recycling bin. 
  
  

Plastic bags clog machinery at a Material Recovery Center in Lemon Grove, CA. (Mitch Silverstein)

• Any item smaller than a credit card is unlikely to be recycled. In this case, the material sorting machinery cannot identify and separate it. This includes common plastic items like straws, utensils, stirrers, splash sticks, salsa cups, lids, and other foodware accessories. The same goes for black or dark-colored plastic, which commonly escapes identification during sorting. 

• Polystyrene foam foodware is not accepted in most curbside recycling programs. It cannot be recycled unless it’s clean and/or unused; even then, the material is so brittle that it rarely survives hauling and sorting intact. Packing peanuts are too small to be recycled. Lastly and like many plastics, foam has very little value on the recycling market. Recycling in the US is mostly a free market enterprise, so if it costs more than it’s worth to recycle a product, then there is no economic incentive to do it. 

• Despite what is accepted in your curbside program, the only plastics with a marginally decent recycling rate are #1 (PET, i.e. clear plastic water bottles) and #2 (HDPE, i.e. slightly opaque milk jugs). The reason why goes back to the point made in the previous bullet: it’s technically difficult and labor-intensive to recycle other types of plastic, meaning it costs more to recycle it than to purchase virgin material. Therefore, it gets landfilled. 

• “Wishcycling” has good intentions, but negative consequences. Do not toss random plastic items in your recycling bin in hopes that they’ll be recycled, despite the fact that these items are not listed on your city’s recycling guide. Doing so results in further contaminating our recycling stream, leading to an even lower recycling rate than we already have (less than 9% for plastics). It also creates additional labor for our waste haulers, which ultimately translates to higher garbage fees for everyone. Unfortunately in today’s recycling environment, random plastic items, pieces, toys, etc. have no chance of being effectively recycled. They end up in landfills.

In this section, we attempt to address the confusion around so-called compostable plastics, which we refer to as "bioplastics." As more cities regulate the use of single-use plastics, bioplastic replacements items that look and feel like conventional plastics are becoming more commonplace. But can they actually be composted? 

Definitions 

First, let’s broadly define the terms using definitions from Surfrider’s Bioplastics Toolkit. Generally, compostable means that a product will break down into its benign, natural components within an established timeframe in a specific, controlled environment. 

Biodegradable means that a product will break down into its individual, natural components over time… but the exact conditions and timeframe are not specified. Technically, it could still take hundreds of years. 

Because the definition of biodegradable is unspecific, it’s often misused and should not be included as a requirement in plastic laws. In fact, it’s illegal in California to label a product as biodegradable, degradable, decomposable, or any form of those terms for this reason. 

State Laws, Local Laws, & Composting Standards

California law requires that products labeled as compostable adhere to ASTM D6400 and D6868 specification standards for commercial composting, and TUV Austria’s OK Compost Home standards for home composting. 

However, this doesn’t mean that all ASTM-certified bioplastic (or other) products will be accepted in your curbside organics program. Similar to recycling, things get confusing because different cities contract with different companies to manage their curbside programs. We’ve found that some commercial composting facilities can properly compost bioplastic products, while others can only compost naturally occurring materials like food waste, paper, and/or fiber takeout containers. 

Also similar to recycling, local plastic laws that require compostable alternatives define “compostable” as an item that can be composted in the city’s curbside organics recycling program, among other things. Regardless of whether your city has plastic laws that require compostable alternatives or not, the best way to find out if a so-called compostable plastic product is accepted in your curbside program is to contact your city environmental department or your waste hauler. 

Example: Carlsbad requires single-use foodware and accessories to be compostable. Per their law, only items accepted in their curbside program qualify, and Carlsbad contracts with Republic Services for all of their curbside waste management. Therefore, the best place to seek answers would be Republic’s Carlsbad landing page and/or Carlsbad’s Environmental Sustainability Department. 

Further Research

For a deeper dive into the complicated landscape of bioplastics, check out the Surfrider Bioplastics Toolkit. 

Surfrider does not endorse the use of bioplastics as a sustainable alternative to conventional single-use plastics. We support reusables first and foremost, and if those are not an option, our next recommendation would be single-use items made from minimally processed, naturally occurring materials. Examples include recycled paper items, bamboo plates, wooden utensils, and straws made from paper, hay, pasta, or another naturally occurring material.

State law (AB 1276) stipulates that local governments are responsible for enforcement, so any complaints about a business failing to comply with either state or local skip the stuff laws should be reported to local code enforcement. 

As a reminder, AB 1276 requires that businesses only offer single-use foodware accessories and condiments to customers who request them. Some cities, like Carlsbad, have a law that mimics AB 1276, while others, like Encinitas and San Diego, have less comprehensive laws that only require straws and utensils to be given upon request. If these differences seem confusing, then our recommendation is to consider the state law first since it encompasses all jurisdictions and incorporates the entire category of single-use foodware accessory items and condiments. 

A couple points worth noting: 

• Cities are allowed to adopt stricter regulations on single-use foodware accessories and condiments, should they choose to do so. 
• Enforcement for AB 1276 is a bit weak - $25 per day with a $300 annual max. Local laws typically include larger potential fines for serial non-compliance, which could incentivize businesses to respect the law.