“Paper or plastic” will no longer be a question asked of you at your local grocery store.

Starting in 2026, it’s paper only.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1053 on Sunday, a bill that bans all plastic shopping bags. California had already banned thin plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other stores, but shoppers could purchase bags made with a thicker plastic that purportedly made them reusable and recyclable.

The new measure, approved by state legislators last month, bans all plastic shopping bags starting in 2026. Consumers who don’t bring their own bags will now simply be asked if they want a paper bag.

Assemblymember Juan Alanis (R-Modesto) voted in favor of the bill, while state Sen. Marie Alvarado Gil (R-Jackson) voted against it.

"This was a tough vote. I generally believe in people’s right to choose what’s best for them. I also believe that most people have every intention of being good stewards and want to do right by recycling. As I researched the facts regarding this bill, the hard truth of the matter was that far too many plastic bags that were supposed to be recycled end up in landfills instead. I am convinced by the arguments, that transitioning to other renewable and reusable options can significantly reduce unnecessary waste; thus, lessening the burden on our landfills. I was also concerned about the liability that grocers might face if a total ban on non-compliant plastics was not implemented. After hearing both sides of the argument, I became convinced that the status quo no longer aligned with the original intent of the law. Frankly, as negotiations between stakeholders broke down, I worried that local grocers could be unfairly sued, caught in the crossfire between paper and plastic. Lastly, if the status quo persisted without a clear decision, I feared for the future of paper manufacturing jobs in my district. For these reasons, I chose to support the job creators within my district who contribute to our economy right here in the 22nd District. Therefore, I cast my vote in favor of 1053," said Alanis.

Senate Bill 270, which sought to ban plastic bags, was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in September 2014, only to be put on the ballot as Proposition 67 two years later. California voters voted to keep the statewide bag ban in place.

Village Fresh Market, according to assistant manager Marco Van Oostende, eliminated plastic as an option around 2017. But during the pandemic, when the price of paper products skyrocketed, the store was forced to go back to a plastic option as a cost-cutting measure.

“Paper is still more expensive, but it’s really kind of negligible,” said Van Oostende. “We’ll make it work.”

State Sen. Catherine Blakespear, one of the bill’s supporters, said people were not reusing or recycling any plastic bags. She pointed to a state study that found that the amount of plastic shopping bags trashed per person grew from 8 pounds per year in 2004 to 11 pounds per year in 2021.

Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas, said the previous bag ban passed a decade ago didn’t reduce the overall use of plastic.

“We are literally choking our planet with plastic waste,” she said in February.

Plastic grocery bags have ranked in the top 10 most commonly collected items by California Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers in seven of the past 10 years, per an emailed statement from Anja Brandon, from the environmental nonprofit Ocean Conservancy, Axios.com reported on its website.

According to a California Public Interest Group report earlier this year, the volume of plastic bag waste had actually increased in the state since 2014 as a result of a legal loophole. Ten years ago, 157,385 tons of plastic bag waste was discarded in California. By 2021, that total had increased nearly 50 percent to 231,072 tons.

According to the Columbia Climate School, plastic bags were invented in 1967, and became widely used in stores in the 1970s — most common were the thin plastic shopping bags given out at cash registers that are usually made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

A 2014 study done for the Progressive Bag Alliance compared grocery bags made from HDPE, compostable plastic, and paper with 30 percent recycled fibers. It found that the HDPE bags ultimately used less fuel and water, and produced less greenhouse gas gases, acid rain emissions, and solid waste than the other two.

The study, however, did not consider litter.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story.