A barista washes a sink inside a Starbucks Coffee Korea Co. store. in Gimpo, South Korea.
SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Starbucks is committed to leaving disposable cups in South Korea by 2025, as it aims to cut global landfill waste by half by the end of the decade.
The coffee giant has long promised to reduce the approximately 7 billion disposable cups it receives each year, most of which end up in landfills. For decades, with a brief hiatus during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, the company has offered a 10-cent discount to customers who carry cups, but few choose that option.
After Starbucks announced last year that it plans to become “positive in terms of resources,” the company has set more targets to reduce water consumption, carbon emissions and waste. On Tuesday, the company said it will run a two-month pilot program for a loan and repayment program at five Seattle coffee shops, where it is headquartered. The company on Monday announced a number of new targets for its South Korean market, including reducing its carbon footprint by 30% by 2025.
While aiming to phase out disposable cups for your coffee, Starbucks plans to introduce a circular cup program in South Korea to slowly encourage customers to reuse cups and mugs. This summer, the chain plans to roll out a program through certain Jeju cafes that allows consumers to pay a small deposit for a reusable cup, which they can return to the return kiosk without contact.
Shares of Starbucks rose 1.9% in the morning trading. The company’s shares have risen 64% over the past year, giving it a market value of $ 131 billion.