Starbucks Plans To Stop Using Disposable Cups By 2030
Fans of Starbucks are pretty used to change (even though we're still not over them discontinuing raspberry syrup). But an upcoming change at Starbucks could be its biggest one yet, and it involves their iconic cups.
According to the AP, Starbucks is working to get rid of its disposable cups by 2030. In place of its beloved white paper cups with the green siren logo, the shop wants to introduce reusable cups. The concept is already being tested at some locations.
The reason for the enormous change? Sustainability.
In late 2020, Starbucks announced its Planet Positive initiatives, "a multi-decade commitment to reduce our carbon, our water and our waste footprints by half by 2030." As part of the commitment, one goal is to move away from single-use items to reusable packaging.
Starbucks stressed that the reusable cups would still flaunt their signature look.
“Our vision for the cup of the future—and our Holy Grail, if you will—is that the cup still has the iconic symbol on it. It’s just as a reusable cup,” Michael Kobori, head of sustainability at Starbucks, shared with the AP.
As Fortune reported, last year only 1.2 percent of its sales were in reusable ones. And some people have already expressed uncertainty about the switch from disposable to reusable Starbucks cups.
"Outside of a few Metro areas, I don't see this taking off. Most people want convenience, and will avoid hassle," said one person on X (formerly Twitter).
"Collecting, transporting, and washing cups is more environmentally harmful (expensive) than making new paper ones and shipping them. The same reason that soda is not in glass bottles anymore," another user added.
One dissatisfied X user wrote, "we have the reusable cups at our location and my cup has coffee grounds under the lid from a previous use! Are you just pulling them out of the collector and refilling them??"
Anothersays, "If you really cared about sustainability, you would drop the ridiculous surcharge for #vegan milk, which is way better for earth vs dairy. What say you?"
There have been some supporters of the switch to reusable cups. Someone declared that the change is "Long overdue."
Are you ready to embrace the switch from disposable to reusable cups?
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