HARTFORD — Connecticut would join Hawaii and California in banning plastic bags at retail checkouts under a proposal that would bring Westport’s successful 5-year-old ban to the state’s other 168 municipalities.

Lobbyists for the state’s supermarkets are opposed to it, but with a new Legislature and new leadership on its Environment Committee, state Rep. John Hennessy, D-Bridgeport, believes the measure can pass this year, especially after California’s statewide ban was approved in September and will take effect in July.

Cutting down on the use of plastic bags is a waste-management tool, creates fewer emissions at garbage-to-energy plants and takes away wind-blown bags from trees and bodies of water.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the nation’s first statewide ban on single-use plastic bags Tuesday.

The measure, first proposed by Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of Los Angeles, would prohibit single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and large pharmacies in 2015 and at convenience stores in 2016.

It includes $2 million in loans to help manufacturers shift to producing reusable bags and lets grocers charge 10 cents each for paper and reusable bags.

The bill had sparked one of the most contentious debates in the last weeks of the legislative session, with aggressive lobbying by environmentalists and bag manufacturers.

About 100 local jurisdictions in California already have adopted similar bans, including Los Angeles and San Francisco.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the nation’s first statewide ban on single-use plastic bags Tuesday.

The measure, first proposed by Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of Los Angeles, would prohibit single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and large pharmacies in 2015 and at convenience stores in 2016.

It includes $2 million in loans to help manufacturers shift to producing reusable bags and lets grocers charge 10 cents each for paper and reusable bags.

The bill had sparked one of the most contentious debates in the last weeks of the legislative session, with aggressive lobbying by environmentalists and bag manufacturers.

About 100 local jurisdictions in California already have adopted similar bans, including Los Angeles and San Francisco.

HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) – One state lawmaker is now hoping more people will make the switch to cloth bags, and is calling for a tax on plastic bags. That’s what environmentalists are hoping for – a ban on plastic bags in Connecticut. Close to 100 cities and counties across the country have already done it, the biggest city being Los Angeles. People in those cities told various news outlets that the ban is working fine.

State Sen. Ed Meyer (D-Guilford) proposed this ban in 2011. This time he said he hopes more people are familiar with the idea and it will become a law. Meyer’s ban would put a 5-cent fee on any plastic bags that someone gets from a store. He added that he encourages cloth over paper bags because they are more biodegradable. There are 400 million plastic bags used in this state every year. “We would find that our beaches would be a lot cleaner,” Meyer said. “I know that our habitat would be a lot safer.”