Story at a glance
- Starbucks is piloting a reusable cup program.
- It aims to cut its waste in half by 2035.
- ”We will lead the transition to a circular economy,” said Starbucks’s Chief Sustainability Officer.
Starbucks is launching a new sustainability initiative, one that will tackle a major source of waste: its cups.
Announced on Tuesday, Starbucks will pilot a borrow-and-return cup program for two months in Seattle stores in a bid to reduce single-use waste and cut its waste by 50 percent by 2030.
The program will allow customers to order their drinks in reusable cups, which is slated to save roughly 30 disposable cups.
“Promoting reusability is an important part of Starbucks goal to reduce waste by 50% by 2030,” said Michael Kobori, Starbucks’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “We understand the interdependency of human and planetary Health, and we believe it is our responsibility to reduce single use cup waste. We will lead the transition to a circular economy..”
The company will scale its Borrow A Cup program to five stores in the Seattle region from March 30 to May 31, 2021. From there, customers will have the option to participate.
Initially, the cup will cost $1, which acts as a deposit and then will become a credit.
Starbucks baristas will also thoroughly clean and sanitize the cups with each use.
When customers are finished, they scan their cups at a kiosk and drop it off to be recycled by partnering organization Ridwell.
This is part of Starbuck’s larger sustainability mission. In its Korea stores, Starbucks aims to discontinue disposable cups by 2025.
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