The chain announced Thursday that the plastic cups for all sizes of its cold drinks have undergone an environmentally friendly redesign that uses up to 20% less plastic compared to the current version.
The new cups were developed internally at Starbucks as part of its ongoing sustainability efforts to reduce its waste and carbon output in half by 2030.
In addition to using less plastic for the cups themselves — Starbucks projects the new cups will save more than 13.5 million pounds of plastic going to landfills annually — it is “projected to reduce emissions and conserve water in the production process,” the chain said.
Starbucks said it conducted tests with baristas and customers to ensure the changeover doesn’t reduce the cups’ sturdiness or ability to keep drinks cold.
Priestland suggests that Starbucks develop reusable and returnable on-the-go cups to help them fully achieve their sustainability goals.
Persons:
there’s, Connor Surdi, Emma Priestland, Priestland
Organizations:
New, New York CNN, Starbucks, CNN
Locations:
New York, Canada, Seattle, Japan, Singapore, United Kingdom