Starbucks reduces the plastic in its single-use cups by 20%
Cold Cup lineup with lids. Image: Starbucks
Starbucks is celebrating Earth Month with the rollout of an improved single-use cold cup made with up to 20% less plastic – keeping 13.5 million pounds of plastic from landfills each year at no additional cost. This is Starbucks latest step to “give more than it takes from the planet,” including halving its carbon, water and waste footprint and updating all customer packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2030.
More about Starbucks improved single-use cold cups:
- Designed by Starbucks, these cups are made with up to 20% less plastic so begin to support Starbucks commitment to cut its carbon, water and waste footprints in half by 2030.
- The redesigned cold cup adds to Starbucks’ packaging innovations to increase their sustainability over the years, including the hot cup with 30% recycled material, straw-less lids, and the recycled material sleeve.
- Customers will begin seeing the cups this month in select stores across the US and Canada, with a full rollout completed over the course of the next year.
Despite the Starbuck’s efforts, the cup is still single-use plastic, so the most sustainable cup is the one you already have at home. The company has seen encouraging results since it became the first national retail coffeehouse to accept reusable cups across all channels in January. As the company continues to drive consumer behaviour change on reusables, it has seen nearly 400,000 Starbucks Rewards members bring in their personal cup, 150,000 first-time personal cup users, and 20% of baristas using a personal cup for their shift beverage since January.
