Starbucks is expanding the ways its staff can fill customers’ personal cups as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce the massive amount of waste the coffee chain produces from its iconic cups constantly thrown in the trash.
It’s a significant expansion since drive-thru and app orders together account for about 70% of sales at US stores operated by the company, with both options having grown in popularity since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The chain’s traditional hot cups are made of both plastic and paper, so they’re difficult to recycle, prompting Starbucks to rethink a variety ways to reduce its waste output with a 50% reduction goal by 2030.
The expansion is now active at company-owned and licensed US and Canada locations, but isn’t available for drinks ordered through third-party apps like DoorDash or Uber Eats.
Starbucks explained in a press release that the changes are “part of a larger cultural movement the company is leading to shift toward reusables and away from single-use plastics, making it convenient for customers to use their own personal cup for every visit.”
Some sustainable ideas Starbucks tried included experimenting with a borrow-a-cup program, in which customers pay a deposit for a durable cup that they take with them and drop back off after use.
To solve that, Starbucks said that drinkers must let baristas know the size they would like and the drink will be made in a custom container that has “standardized lines [employees] need for measurements” before it’s poured into a personal cup.
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I just came into work and saw these new containers, I was not sure what they were for exactly, as they look a bit like the shakers, but thicker and not shakeable.
We have about $50 in Starbucks gift cards that people have given us. We never use them. The only way to make Starbucks coffee taste decent is to add three soda's worth of sugar and a half pint of heavy cream.
If you are going to bring your own cup anyway, just brew it at home. The few hundred $$$ needed for a decent espresso machine will be quickly paid back by not spending insane money on coffee every day.