Starbucks Unveils New Eco-Friendly Cold Cups, Reducing Plastic Use by 20%
On Thursday, Starbucks announced a redesigned line of cold beverage cups across all sizes, engineered to be more environmentally friendly by using up to 20% less plastic than the current version. The cup redesign is the company’s latest effort to reduce the environmental impact of its cups, which have been a target of criticism.
Developed in-house by Starbucks as part of its sustainability efforts to cut waste and carbon emissions in half by 2030, the new cups reflect the beverage giant’s desire to reduce its reliance on plastic, a material largely made from fossil fuel-based polymers.
The new cups will roll out to select locations in the U.S. and Canada this year, with a full rollout expected to be complete by spring 2025.
Beyond using less plastic per cup — Starbucks estimates the new cups will save more than 13.5 million pounds of plastic from entering landfills annually — the chain said the “refreshingly redesigned cup” will reduce emissions and conserve water during manufacturing.
Starbucks says it has tested the design with baristas and customers to ensure the change doesn’t impact the cups’ durability or ability to keep beverages cold.
Small design tweaks include the addition of new accessibility features, including a contrasting dark-and-light “reveal line” that provides extra contrast between the beverage and the lighter cup.
Another change is that the tall, grande and venti cups will now all use the same size lid; formerly, the tall cup had its own unique lid, while the grande and venti cups shared a lid.
For baristas, the change should reduce clutter and save time searching for the right lid. Starbucks says it has also added raised bumps to the bottom of each cup, so that “baristas can quickly confirm the size they’re grabbing during peak moments when cups are being stacked upside down.”
Sustainability Struggles
Plastic cups and the environmental problems they create have long been a flashpoint for Starbucks.
In January, the chain introduced a policy allowing customers to order their drinks in reusable cups they bring from home.
Other sustainable ideas Starbucks has tried include piloting a “borrow-a-cup” program, in which customers pay a deposit for a reusable cup that they can take with them and return later.
At a Seattle test site in 2021, customers paid a $1 deposit and had to return the cup to an in-store smart bin to get their deposit back. The company has tested similar pilot programs in Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
Yet these tests and changes haven’t been enough to solve the “plastic crisis,” according to Emma Priestland, global corporate campaign coordinator for Break Free From Plastic.
“While the world urgently needs to slash plastic production for the climate, from a waste management and plastic pollution perspective, simply producing less of the same single-use plastic items is the wrong approach,” Priestland told CNN.
Priestland suggests Starbucks develop reusable and returnable to-go cups to fully meet its sustainability goals.
Source: CNN
