Instead, they must be processed in industrial composting facilities, which are still rare. And while technically, Starbucks’ cups can be recycled under the right circumstances, they usually are not. Most facilities don’t recycle paper cups because to do so, they would have to separate the cups’ plastic lining from the paper.
Starbucks cups are not easily recycled . Here’s why that’s a problem. Com Forget plastic straws. A Starbucks coffee cup floats on the surface of the East River.
Can Starbucks recycle its paper cups?
Proving this point, as Fast Company reports, Starbucks recently recycled 25 million of its disposable paper cups , turning the subsequent material into new Starbucks cups.
Unfortunately, these same practices do not apply to Starbucks cups. Whether you get a Chai tea or Cappuccino, you are stuck with the cup. Starbucks cups are not recyclable . The cups contain a polyethylene coating. The plastic coating keeps liquids from leaking out of the cup, but it also prevents you from tossing it in the recycling bin.
Most Starbucks paper cups (even those accepted for recycling ) end up in the trash. Starbucks is the biggest coffee company in the world. The impact of its waste on our water, oceans, and health is dramatic. A decade ago the company committed to change.
One frequent answer is, “ Starbucks can make the best compostable, recyclable cup and it’ll never be be composted or recycled if the rest of the system doesn’t change,” Packard, who is now the director of the University of Washington’s Earth. Lab, told CNN Business. “They cannot change the system by themselves.” Still, the company has set high standards for itself.
Why can’t you recycle coffee cups?
The same logic applies to the humble coffee cup. Billions of disposable coffee cups like the ones used by Starbucks are thrown out each year, and the conventional logic is that these cups can’t be recycled because of the thin, plastic inside lining that prevents them from leaking .
The winning designs also include three reusable cup systems. One, called Cup. Club, has already been piloted in London. The service puts RFID chips in cups, so they can be tracked and then picked up from drop points to be cleaned and reused., cup Club uses RFID chips to track and collect reusable cups .
Why can’t you recycle paper cups?
If recycling facilities try to recycle paper cups without separating out materials first, the plastic lining is likely to jam up their machines. That makes the cups effectively non-recyclable at most facilities .
Are paper cups a liability or an asset for Starbucks?
As long as they make customers feel good, they’re a big asset to the company. But those cups could also be a liability for Starbucks. After all, it took just one You. Tube video and a statistic sourced to a 9-year-old boy to turn public opinion against plastic straws. Starbucks used 3.85 billion paper cups for hot beverages in 2017 alone.
This begs the question “How many paper cups does Starbucks use each year?”
Starbucks used 3.85 billion paper cups for hot beverages in 2017 alone. If a similar backlash were to happen to the single-use coffee cup, which is lined with plastic and not recyclable in most places, the company would suddenly have a big problem on its hands.