A ruling by a state court on Thursday surrounding New York's ban on single-use plastic bags has all sides claiming some form of victory. 

For the Department of Environmental Conservation and environmental groups: The bag ban was generally upheld. The plastic bag industry, however, pointed to language in the ruling that struck down a regulation limiting bags to 10 mils thick. One mil is one-thousandth of an inch.

"The Court’s decision is a victory and a vindication of New York State’s efforts to end the scourge of single-use plastic bags and a direct rebuke to the plastic bag manufacturers who tried to stop our law," said Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos. "DEC encourages New Yorkers to transition to reusable bags whenever and wherever they shop and to use common-sense precautions to keep reusable bags clean."

The bag ban took effect in March this year, but its full implementation was partially delayed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The plastic bag industry and grocers challenged the measure in court, calling the measure unworkable. 

But Acting Supereme Court Justice Gerald Connolly in the ruling the regulations "contradict" the measure itself. 

“That the portion of the Bag Regulations allowing for use of certain plastic reusable bags is in plain contradiction of the Bag Reduction Act is further borne out by the legislative history herein," he wrote. 

Opponents of the measure said the language indicated the Legislature needs to eturn to the drawing board. 

“Unfortunately, we are back where we started, and New York’s bag ban is still broken. If there is one thing that is very clear from the judge’s ruling it’s that New York has an unworkable plastic bag law and it must be fixed," said Zachary Taylor, the director of the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance. 

“If the state moves forward with enforcing this broken law, businesses that are now spending more on PPE, safety protocols and other COVID-era requirements, could be put in an impossible situation of being required to provide bags they can’t get.”