Recycling

Recycling

While some communities already recycle our paper and plastic cups, most don’t have the infrastructure in place to handle collection, hauling and processing due to a lack of demand for cup material by the recycling industry. This inconsistency makes it difficult for us – with more than 17,000 retail locations globally – to efficiently and effectively implement recycling strategies.

To achieve greater scalability and standardization, in 2008 we set a goal to develop comprehensive recycling solutions for our paper and plastic cups by 2012. We’re currently on track to meet this goal.

Ultimately, we want our cups – which in the United States account for about 95 percent of our in-store beverage packaging – to be recyclable in form and in practice. We won’t consider our cups universally recyclable until our customers can recycle them in our stores, at their homes and workplaces, and in public spaces.

When we initially delved into this issue, we believed making our cups from alternative materials was the key to broader acceptance into the recycling stream. Through subsequent discussions with stakeholders from across our cup value chain, we learned that the cup can be recyclable as constructed. The real obstacle is the lack of robust commercial and residential recycling systems in many of the communities where we do business.

We have taken a systems-based approach to gain a better understanding of the recycling landscape and identify specific actions we can take to reduce waste. We hosted groundbreaking cup summits in Seattle in May 2009 and Boston in April 2010, where we met with government officials, raw material suppliers, cup manufacturers, retail and beverage businesses, recyclers, competitors, conservation groups and academic experts.

Pilot programs have become an important component of our strategy, demonstrating what is possible, and in turn enabling us to scale those solutions. For example, in early 2010 we worked with Global Green USA’s Coalition for Resource Recovery to test the recyclability of our paper cups with old corrugated cardboard – the most extensively recycled material in the United States. This pilot, which initially took place in seven Starbucks stores in Manhattan, was expanded later in the year to include 86 of our New York stores. Through this exercise, we gained a better understanding of local recycling processes and the most effective methods for cup collection inside our stores. In 2011 we plan to launch additional recycling programs in a number of our store communities.

Although many of our customers order their beverages to go, front-of-store recycling is an important part of our effort to develop comprehensive recycling solutions. In 2008 we set a goal to implement front-of-store recycling in all company-owned locations by 2015. Since that time, we’ve introduced front-of-store recycling in San Francisco, Seattle and Toronto. By the end of 2010, front-of-store recycling bins were present in five percent of our company-owned locations in the U.S. and Canada. While we have a long way to go to reach our 2015 goal, we hope to see significant improvement in this area in 2011.

The majority of our in-store waste is generated behind the counter, as is the case with many retail businesses. In 2010 75 percent (2,318) of our company-owned stores in U.S. and Canada where Starbucks controls the waste program were recycling cardboard boxes and other back-of-store items. Among our remaining retail locations in North America, the majority were limited by operational impasses, such as minimal store space or lack of commercial recycling services.

The use of post-consumer recycled fiber (PCF) in our cups and other packaging also continues to be a priority for us, as it has been since 2006, when we launched the industry’s first paper beverage cup containing PCF. Over time, this effort has enabled us to conserve about 75,000 tons of virgin wood fiber, the equivalent of more than 518,000 trees.²

Reusable Cups

In addition to advocating for improved recycling infrastructures and using PCF in our packaging, we’re encouraging our partners (employees) and customers to reduce waste by opting for reusable cups instead of single-use paper and plastic cups. Our goal is to serve 25 percent of the beverages made in our stores in reusable cups by 2015.

Since 1985 we’ve rewarded customers with a discount for using travel tumblers. In 2010 customers brought their own tumblers into our stores more than 32 million times.

We invested significant resources to promote tumbler use and increase awareness of our everyday discount in 2010. We launched a special campaign during the month of April, and on April 15, 2010, customers who brought their tumblers into our stores were offered a free brewed coffee. More than 1.2 million customers participated in the giveaway, and over 47,000 people around the world have since pledged to use their own tumblers on an ongoing basis.

Although reusable serveware and tumbler use accounted for only 1.8 percent of total beverages served last year, this simple shift in behavior kept nearly 1.45 million pounds of paper out of landfills. In 2011 we’ll continue to encourage tumbler use, increase our supply of serverware for customers spending time inside our stores and continue to raise awareness of the benefits of not using a paper or plastic cup at all.