Starbucks addressed sustainability issues in a three-part statement Tuesday that targets reusable cups on the carry options its customers use when brewing coffee.
By next year, Starbucks customers will be able to use their own personal reusable cups in the United States and Canada, including in cafes, drive-thru and when opting for mobile ordering and payment. Starbucks sells 4 million coffee drinks worldwide per day. The chain registers 60 million customers every week, but that trails coffee drinkers and those who buy food and goods.
The company has conducted tests across the United States to see how coffee drinkers respond to financial incentives and disincentives, such as a 10-cent fee for single-use cups and a 50-cent discount for a cup. reusable.
The goal by 2025 is to give customers easy access to a personal or Starbucks-provided reusable cup for every visit. Coffee chain SBUX predicts a time when 100 million customers a week will all stick to a reusable cup. A borrowed cup replaces up to 30 disposable cups, according to the company.
Single-use cups account for 20% of the company’s waste globally, but its on-the-go format appealing to most customers has resulted in an uphill battle for a full switch to reusable cups. The company uses approximately 7 billion disposable cups each year. Add disposable lids and the cup-lid combo accounts for 40% of company waste.
Starbucks also plans to try new cup washing stations at coffee shops in O’ahu, Hawaii, and on the campus of Arizona State University, but wants to expand its use.
Starbucks has already tested cup borrowing programs in Japan, Singapore and London. In South Korea, the retailer has already pledged to completely phase out single-use cups by 2025.
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The latest round of enduring efforts doesn’t stop there.
In a pilot program beginning this summer, Starbucks and Volvo will create a route from the Colorado Rockies to the Starbucks support center in Seattle with Volvo electric vehicle chargers, powered by ChargePoint CHPT,
available at up to 15 Starbucks “greener stores” along the way.
“We know that infrastructure is the main reason why customers hesitate or decide not to buy an electric vehicle. Imagine a future where you can fuel your body and your car at Starbucks,” the company said in a statement.
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Market tracker LMC Automotive expects electric vehicles to account for 34.2% of new vehicle sales in the United States by 2030, all-electric at 30.1% and gasoline plug-in hybrids /electric at 4.1%. Sales of electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, accounted for only about 4% of total U.S. vehicle sales in 2021. Yet that doubled from the previous year.
Starbucks
By 2030, Starbucks hopes to lead the retail industry in decarbonization efforts, including electric vehicle charging and the availability of on-site solar power in stores and adjacent locations, did he declare. The company previously set a goal of halving its waste and carbon emissions from its direct operations by 2030. It ultimately wants to be resource positive, returning excess energy to the power grid, for example.
“We have a bold vision for long-term sustainability and ambitious goals for 2030,” said Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson.
Also on Tuesday, Starbucks launched a waste management and recycling app to help its baristas and other staff navigate increasingly complex, confusing and variable recycling guidelines by city. Wider use of the app for customers could come, but for now it’s intended for Starbucks employees, who actually developed the app.
“Putting items in the right bin has a huge impact on diverting waste from landfill – imagine scanning a single-use item and knowing exactly how and where to dispose of it sustainably?” Starbucks said in its statement.
Read: Here’s the tiny percentage of recycled plastic despite single-use bans, taxes and incentives
Starbucks shares are down 32% year-to-date. Last month, the company cut its earnings outlook for fiscal year 2022. The S&P 500 SPX,
is down 12% over the same period.