It also wants to push more suppliers in its production chain to provide recycled material and partners, such as universities and other locales that house stores, to be able to handle all that comes with reusable cups.Įrin Simon, vice president for plastic waste and business at World Wildlife Fund, says commitment from major companies can help. Starbucks sees the change as an opportunity to cast the siren, and the company, in a different light. “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,” says Michael Kobori, head of sustainability at Starbucks. It provides a window into how companies go from ambitious sustainability targets to actual results. Pulling that off will be tricky and fraught with risks. The goal: to cut the company’s waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. It’s one of two dozen pilots over the last two years, aimed at changing how the world’s largest coffee maker serves its java. Customers who don’t bring their own are given a reusable plastic one that can be dropped off in bins around campus. And there’s this: Could eliminating the millions of paper and plastic cups used each year hurt Starbucks? After all, those cups, in the hands of customers, are advertising - a market penetration that makes Starbucks feel ubiquitous.Īt the store where Patton gets her coffee, Starbucks already doesn’t serve any in disposable paper or plastic cups. Still, while customers want companies to be environmentally conscious, that doesn’t mean they’re willing to give up convenience. That goes against customers’ increasing expectations for companies to be part of the solution to climate change. Producing disposable products like cups creates greenhouse gas emissions, which warm the planet and lead to extreme weather events and other manifestations of climate change. Today’s drive to overhaul the cup comes with an obvious business imperative. Starbucks is planning on revamping its iconic cup. For example, in 2008 the company said that by 2015 it wanted 100% of its cups to be recyclable or reusable. Some have been met, such as new stores being certified for energy efficiency others have been revised or scrapped entirely. The stated reason is that it’s the right thing to do for the environment, and Starbucks has a history of lofty sustainability goals around various aspects of their global operations. CONVENIENCE COLLIDES WITH VIRTUEīy 2030, Starbucks wants to move away completely from disposable cups, which represent big portions of the company’s overall waste and greenhouse gas emissions. Now, in an era where concern for sustainability can be good business, the Starbucks disposable cup may be on its way to extinction thanks to an unlikely force: Starbucks itself. Ubiquitous to the point of being an accessory, it has carried a message: I am drinking the world’s most recognizable coffee brand. Just as noteworthy as what they’re carrying is what they are not: the disposable Starbucks cup, an icon in a world where the word is overused.įor a generation and more, it has been a cornerstone of consumer society, first in the United States and then globally - the throwaway cup with the emerald logo depicting a longhaired siren with locks like ocean waves. Two friends who came on the afternoon coffee run nod as they hold the cups that they, too, brought along. “Saving the environment is important and all, but I probably come here more in knowing that I’m going to get a dollar off,” says Patton, 27, a cancer researcher at Arizona State University. A barista grabs the mug, dries it and prepares Patton’s order - a 16-ounce Starbucks double espresso on ice.įor bringing her own cup, Patton gets $1 off her drink. After 90 seconds, the door opens and steam emerges. Starbucks’ fruitless attempt to dismiss lawsuit against Refresher drinks is deniedīethany Patton steps up to the counter and places her pink mug into a shoebox-sized dishwasher. Starbucks reportedly pouring billions of dollars into slashing wait times NYC woman sues Starbucks for $5M over fruitless fruit drinks: ‘False’ Starbucks’ pesky dome lids irk workers, customers: ‘I have begun to fear Frappuccinos’

Kardashian event planner