What Not to Waste Sioned Seeley-Cavers

Starbucks’ Reusable $1 Cup An Investigation Into Where It Comes From and Where It Goes

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About a year ago I walked into Starbucks and was thrilled to discover that they were beginning to sell reusable coffee mugs for only $1. Excited by the prospect of one of the largest companies in North America trying to help the environment, by reducing the amount of cups tossed into landfills, I bought one. It wasn’t until some months

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later when I started thinking about the environmental impact these coffee cup actually has. Where does it come from? What is it made of? How much energy goes into making and distributing these? I decided to do some research on the economic and environmental impact that these mugs produced.

Background Starbucks promotes environmentally friendly plastic reusable cup to reduce landfill waste.

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Moving Forward The responsibility of recycling both plastic and paper cups, and making changes to reduce waste

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Customer Responsibility How customers can make informed decisions into recycling practices

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Starbucks is one of the largest international corporations with over 20 thousand franchises around the world, but with large-scale business within the food industry, its cups contribute to a large portion to the amount of waste in landfills. It’s estimated that of the 200 billion cups that get thrown away each year in North America, 3 billion come from Starbucks alone (Kamenetz, 2010). In order to decrease the environmental impact of disposable cups, Starbucks created their reusable cup. Starbuck’s original goal was to serve 25 percent of all drinks in reusable cups by

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2015; however, the goal was later reduced to 5 percent.

The cup itself is made of #5 plastic, or polypropylene (PP). It is dishwasher friendly, and is good for up to 30 uses- less when put into the dishwasher. In comparison to the company’s standard one-use paper cup, it would seem that the reusable cup would make a significant impact in reducing landfill waste. However, there were many skeptics concerned with the energy consumption, and carbon emissions that are produced in the manufacturing process of the new plastic cup.

Starbucks Launches $1 Reusable Cup

A study by Dr. Martin B. Hocking, at the University of Victoria, showed that reusable plastic cups used substantially more energy in manufacturing than single use paper cups- 6.3MJ to 0.55MJ (Institute for Lifecycle Energy Analysis). However, disposable paper cups scenarios do not account for wax linings, hot sleeves, lids and printing. Therefore, Hacking concluded that in order for plastic cups to become equally energy efficient to paper cups, the plastic would have to be used 17 times. Starbucks cups are good for up to 30 uses.

But the reusable cups are only efficient if customers routinely use them. “In situations where cups are likely to be lost or broken and thus have a short average lifetime, disposable cups are the preferred option” (Hocking, 1994).

Energy Comparison of Paper vs. Reusable Plastic Cups.

Green-Washing “When a company, government or other group promotes green-based environmental initiatives or images but actually operates in a way that is damaging to the environment or in an opposite manner to the goal of the announced initiatives. This can also include misleading customers about the environmental benefits of a product through misleading advertising and unsubstantiated claims” (Investopedia, 2007).

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Moving Forward Environmental Impact of Recycling Paper vs. Plastic Reusable Cups

Recycling Practices of Paper Cups Although the inputs that go into making one single use paper cup are much lower than those of the reusable cup, but there are many difficulties when it comes to disposing of the paper cup. Many people assume that paper cups are fully recyclable, but the paper is lined with a film of plastic that is difficult to remove and often mean that the cups go straight into the landfill. New recycling systems have been established to deal with this issue, but it’s still not enough to make a significant impact on the total tons of waste. To add to this, many recycling centers will not take containers that has food or beverage residue on it. These factors increase the total amount of energy it takes to break down the paper cups in its lifecycle (Ziada, 2009). Recycling practices of PP Polypropylene plastic is actually very sustainable, as it is a plastic that can be used over and over again. “It’s easier to recycle than almost any other plastic,” (Milliken Chemical, 2013). Although it does require more energy to breakdown the material, with Starbuck’s reusable cup plan, there should be a significant decrease in the amount of cups needing to be recycled. However, even recycling of the reusable cups has its issues. Many recycles centers still will not take polypropylene because they are not capable of breaking down the material. Starbucks reported that they continually face challenges with stores located in municipalities that don’t provide commercial recycling and with landlords who do not provide access to recycling services (Starbucks, 2012). So, if one were to only use the reusable cup a few times, the paper cup is has a lower environmental impact. However, if a consumer commits to their reusable cup, the high number of uses can result in an overall lower impact on the environment.

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Starbucks has taken many initiatives over the years to try and solve the problems with recycling and disposing of waste. They have stared implementing front of store recycling services, and in 2014 they added customer-facing recycling to more than 760 stores, bringing the total to 47% of Starbucks company-operated locations in the U.S. and Canada. Starbucks has also partnered with FPI (Foodservice Packing Industry) to work collaboratively in both its Paper Recovery Alliance and Plastics Recovery Group. But it is not just up to the company to make an change on the environment.

Customer Responsibility When the reusable cup was first implemented, it seemed as though people were ready to make a change. Customer adoption of purchasing and using the cup briefly spiked to 2.5% around the cup’s launch, but by the end of 2013 overall customer adoption levels plateaued to only 1.8% and has remained steady every since (Starbucks, 2012). One of the reasons for this is that it is extremely hard to change people’s behaviours. Many think that recycling their disposable cups is enough, “many people think recycling is equal to sustainability,

[…] people think they are living sustainably just because they are recycling” (Ziada, 2009). In actuality, recycling still uses energy and releases carbon admissions just to break down the materials.

Approximately two thirds of food-service packing end up in the home or workplace, where there is access to collecting and recycling infrastructure- only one-third of it stays where it was purchased. Therefore, once the cup is purchased, it is up to the customers to make informed choices on what they can do to decrease their product waste.

It is not enough to blame the environmental impact on a company. Consumers and governments must also make a change. The fewer cups we use, the less cups Starbucks will have to produce. The more recycling infrastructures that offer adequate disposal of both plastic and paper cups, the less waist there will be in landfills.

“Ultimately though, it will be our customers who control whether or not we

achieve continued growth in the number of beverages served in reusable cups.”

- Starbucks, 2012

Although the use of a plastic cup is questionable as a sustainable environmentally friendly option for consumers, what I learned was that it is not just the responsibility of Starbucks to cup down on their impact to the landfills. There is also a significant weight on customers and governments to change behaviours and implement recycling plants that work diminish the amount of cups that get thrown away.

Conclusion

From Where They Came From, To Where They Go

Hindrances in my research

***It is important to note that I could not find any information that would lead me to the manufacturers of the reusable cup. Currently Starbucks only reports that the cups are made in China. Therefore, my research was prevented from looking back at where the cups were made, to look forward into the environmental impact they have.

Comm415- Global Communication May 21, 2015