A barista washes in a sink inside a Starbucks Coffee Korea Co. store in Gimpo, South Korea.
SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Starbucks has pledged to discontinue disposable cups in South Korea by 2025 as it aims to cut global landfill waste in half by the end of the decade.
The coffee giant has long promised to cut the nearly 7 billion disposable cups it processes each year, most of which end up in landfills. For decades, with a brief interruption during the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, the company offered a discount of 10 cents to customers who brought the glasses, but few choose this 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 would run a two-month pilot program for a loan and return program at five cafes in Seattle, where it is based. The company announced on Monday a number of new targets for its South Korean market, including reducing its carbon footprint by 30% by 2025.
While seeking to eliminate disposable cups for its coffee, Starbucks plans to launch a circular cup program in South Korea to slowly encourage customers to reuse mugs and cups. This summer, the chain plans to launch a program at select cafes in Jeju that allows consumers to pay a small deposit for a reusable cup, which they can return to a contactless return kiosk.
Starbucks shares rose 1.9% in the morning trading session. The company’s stock rose 64% in the last year, giving it a market value of $ 131 billion.