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Starbucks testing reusable cups, EV charging kiosks, recycle app

Starbucks launched a pilot program with Volvo Cars to electrify the driving route from the Colorado Rockies to the Starbucks Support Center in Seattle, providing a string of familiar, reliable, clean and safe places to recharge. Provided

March 15, 2022

Starbucks is launching several initiatives designed to help support sustainability efforts, including a reusable cup program, a waste and recycling app to support employees' sustainability efforts and a pilot program deploying Volvo-branded electric vehicle chargers, powered by ChargePoint, at up to 15 Starbucks stores along a 1,350-mile route from the Denver area to the coffee company's Seattle headquarters. These DC Fast Chargers will be placed at Starbucks stores about every 100 miles.

"We have a bold long-term sustainability vision and ambitious goals for 2030," Starbucks president and CEO Kevin Johnson told employees. "Starbucks partners around the world are passionate about protecting our planet and are at the very center of driving the innovation that enables us to give more than we take from the planet."

To help reach the company's goal of reducing waste by 50% by 2030, Starbucks is shifting away from single-use plastics and piloting reusable cup programs in six markets around the world. By the end of next year, customers may use their own reusable cups for every Starbucks visit in the U.S. and Canada.

"Our goal, by 2025, is to create a cultural movement towards reusables by giving customers easy access to a personal or Starbucks provided reusable to-go cup for every visit, making it convenient and delightful to reuse wherever customers are enjoying their Starbucks Experience," he said.

Starbucks is testing multiple "Borrow-A-Cup" and reusable operating models in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Singapore, with more countries in the year ahead. In addition, the company wants customers to bring their own cups while exploring customer incentives and technologies, like cup-washing stations at cafe counters.

The company is also launching a Starbucks Partner Waste and Recycling App, developed as part of the Greener Stores Innovation Challenge. The app puts everything partners need to know to reduce waste and recycle in one place; it features store-specific information and notifications, a sorting guide and the option to create store specific signage for partners and customers.

"Starbucks is spending this year testing innovative new ways to reduce waste and reduce our carbon footprint," Michael Kobori, chief sustainability officer, said in the release. "Some of our best innovations, like the Waste and Recycling App, come directly from our store partners. Our store partners know their customers and communities best. When we work together with our partners, we find better solutions to create a more sustainable future for our planet and people."