Starbucks Supports Sustainable Cup Push

This month, it was announced that polypropylene beverage cups—often used for cold drinks, as they are at Starbucks—earned the Widely Recyclable designation from How2Recycle, North America’s most recognized on‑pack disposal label.

The milestone means more than 60% of U.S. households can recycle these cups through curbside programs or drop-off programs, helping reduce waste and improve recycling rates nationwide, notes Starbucks—one partner in an effort also involving How2Recycle, NextGen Consortium (managed by Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy), The Recycling Partnership and recycler WM.

“Expanding access, improving infrastructure and strengthening consumer communications takes collaboration across the value chain,” says Paul Nowak, executive director of GreenBlue, the nonprofit behind the How2Recycle program. “No single organization can do this alone. The work we’re doing today has benefits beyond any single material. By investing in infrastructure and consumer-tested communications, we’re driving industry and behavior change at scale.”

Collective efforts from October through January enabled cold cup recycling access for another 2 million households.

“Achieving the Widely Recyclable designation for polypropylene cups is a significant milestone,” says Marika McCauley Sine, chief sustainability officer at Starbucks. “It reflects what’s possible when businesses, recyclers and communities work together to create solutions that can reduce waste and make recycling easier for customers who opt for to-go beverages. We’re committed to continuing our collective effort to build a circular system that can benefit people and the planet.”