Starbucks makes big change bespoke coffee lovers will…

Starbucks makes big change bespoke coffee lovers will hate

As concerns have grown regarding the toxic waste and irreversible environmental damage plastic poses, some U.S. states, like New York, California, and Colorado, have passed stricter laws against single-use plastics, encouraging consumers to opt for reusable and more environmentally friendly alternatives.

Over the last few years, Starbucks has committed to halving its carbon, water, and waste footprint by 2030. The company has made multiple efforts to fulfill this promise by tweaking its packaging to make it more reusable, recyclable, and compostable and launching various other initiatives.

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The company has already made strides regarding its environmentally friendly goals in other regions. For years, Starbucks has tested compostable cold cups in Europe, the UK, and the Middle East, which have become the norm in some locations.

Because of these continuous changes and its commitment to reducing plastic waste, the Seattle-based company announced a major change that iced coffee drinkers and Frappuccino lovers will notice right away.

Starbucks Baristas at work making drinks.
Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images

Starbucks states its commitment to reducing its plastic use

In April of last year, Starbucks (SBUX) debuted its new cold beverage single-use cups made with 20% less plastic in the U.S. and Canada, which aimed to keep more than 13.5 million pounds of plastic away from landfills each year.

Over the summer, Starbucks also led its first-ever city-wide reusable cup project in partnership with NextGen Consortium. This project aimed to make reusable cups the default option for to-go cold and hot beverages across 30 Starbucks locations in Petaluma, California.

The test project offered customers reusable cups meant to be returned at various cup drop-off locations to be sanitized and recirculated across all participating Starbucks cafés to be used again.

Starbucks announces its new commercially compostable cups

Starbucks announced it is developing new commercially compostable cups and lids for cold beverages, which are opaque, like its hot cups, and made from fiber-based paper board with a bioplastic liner.

These new eco-friendly cups will be available at various Starbucks locations in select states, which the company didn't mention in its original announcement.

However, according to Fox5 New York, these locations include California, Washington, Hawaii, Minnesota, Arizona, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Michigan, Maryland, Connecticut, Virginia, South Carolina, Colorado, and Georgia, all of which are states that have implemented laws banning or limiting single-use plastic.

"We’ve set an ambitious goal for our cups to be 100% compostable, recyclable, or reusable; sourced from 50% recycled materials; and made using 50% less virgin fossil fuel derived sources by 2030," stated Starbucks in the announcement.

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If the new compostable cups aren't available at customers' nearest Starbucks location, the company also offers various sustainable cup options to encourage clients to participate in this movement.

One option is for customers to order their drinks "For-Here" and enjoy them at its cafés, where they will be served in coffee mugs or glass cups. As an extra perk for doing so, Starbucks will provide free same-day refills for hot or iced brewed coffee and tea.

Another option is for customers to bring their personal cups so Starbucks can serve their beverages in them. Although this option had been available to customers previously, it was removed during COVID-19 due to contamination concerns, but it's now available nationwide again.

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