A barista washes in a sink at a Starbucks Coffee Korea Co. store in Gimpo, South Korea.
SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Starbucks has pledged to phase out disposable cups in South Korea by 2025 as it aims to cut global waste from landfills by half by the end of the decade.
The coffee giant has long pledged to reduce the approximately 7 billion disposable cups it uses annually, most of which end up in landfills. For decades, with a brief hiatus during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, the company has been offering a 10 cent discount to customers who bring cups, but few choose that option.
After Starbucks announced last year that it plans to eventually become “resource-positive,” the company has set more goals to reduce water use, carbon emissions and waste. On Tuesday, the company said it will run a two-month pilot project for a loan and returns program in five cafes in Seattle, where its headquarters are located. The company announced a set of new goals for its South Korean market on Monday, including reducing its carbon footprint by 30% by 2025.
Starbucks is committed to phasing out single-use cups for its coffee and plans to introduce a circular cup program in South Korea to gradually encourage customers to reuse mugs and cups. This summer, the chain plans to roll out a program in select cafes in Jeju that will allow consumers to pay a small deposit for a reusable cup, which they can return at a contactless return kiosk.
Shares of Starbucks were up 1.9% in morning trading. The company’s stock is up 64% in the past year, putting it at a market value of $ 131 billion.