Starbucks launched a cup-recycling program in partnership with Global Green USA’s Coalition for Resource Recovery (CoRR). The pilot program will take place in seven Starbucks stores in Manhattan and will test the collection and recycling of paper coffee cups when combined with old corrugated cardboard (OCC). OCC is the most extensively recycled material in the United States. The objective of the program is to develop a cost effective way to close the loop on paper packaging ultimately reducing greenhouse gases and helping municipalities reach their sold waste goals.
This is exciting news for Starbucks and helps the company move closer to its Shared Planet goal of developing and launching a recyclable cup by 2012. What many folks don’t realize is that Starbucks paper coffee cups can be recycled or composted in some communities, but most commercial services are not currently able to process the cups. According to Jim Hanna, Starbucks director of Environmental Impact,
In addition to the cup design, it’s critical that we address the full product life cycle – including the recycling collection infrastructure. Any enduring solution will require collaboration with stakeholders across the value chain.”
Starbucks has believed in a collaborative approach since the beginning. Earlier this year, the company hosted a Cup Summit facilitated by Dr. Peter Senge, author of Learning for Sustainability and The Fifth Discipline. Stakeholders along the entire cup supply chain came together to discuss the whole systems approach to recycling and recyclable. The pilot program in New York is the next step in this complicated, multi-level process. Results of the pilot will be available in November.
Why is a recyclable cup so important? Global Green USA reports that every year 58 billion paper cups are used in the U.S. at restaurants, events, and homes. If all paper cups in the U.S. were recycled, 645,000 tons of waste would be diverted from landfills each year, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2.5 million mtCO2e, equivalent to removing 450,000 passenger cars from the road. Wow! Since Starbucks is the largest specialty coffee company in the world, it is essential for them to take the lead. And it's encouraging to see the company step up to the challenge.
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