Starbucks Plastic Cups Marked Recyclable End Up in Trash, says Environmental Group

Starbucks’ plastic single-use cups it often serves in US cafes are not as recyclable as the company claims, an environmental nonprofit group says.

Starbucks had in February announced that its polypropylene cold-beverage cups were considered “widely recyclable” in the US. The cups prominently feature a recycling icon and are depicted as recyclable on in-store recycling bins.

But new findings from the Vermont-based advocacy group Beyond Plastics, indicate otherwise. A 3-month national investigation by the group found that not a single tracked Starbucks cold-beverage cup ended up at a recycling facility – even when the cups were placed in clearly marked recycling bins inside Starbucks stores.

Instead, 33 ended up in landfills, incinerators, or on their way to either. Three were last seen in sorting facilities.

The group attached location trackers to 36 single-use polypropylene cups (No. 5 plastic) and placed them in recycling bins inside Starbucks’ cafes across the country. None of the cups were tracked to a recycling facility, the group reported. As detailed in the new report, titled “Tracking Starbucks’ Deceptive Recyclability Claims”, the findings directly contradict Starbucks’ “widely recyclable” cups claim.

“This is the world’s largest coffee chain, and about 75% of its US beverage sales are cold drinks, mostly served in plastic cups. That’s a massive amount of plastic waste. Contrary to what it touts, Starbucks is not ‘giving cups a second life’ and can’t recycle its way out of its plastic problem. It needs to stop deceiving its customers into thinking it can,” says Susan Keefe, Beyond Plastics’ Southern California director.

“Accepting a plastic item for recycling is not the same as actually recycling it, and the company knows the difference. It’s time for Starbucks to stop making misleading recycling claims and start prioritizing plastic-free, preferably reusable, alternatives for its customers,” says Judith Enck, Beyond Plastics’ president and a former Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator.

CAP advises consumers to bring their own recyclable tumblers and not drink from plastic containers when eating out.

Read Beyond Plastics’ new report here: https://www.beyondplastics.org/starbucks-cups