Starbucks’ self-imposed goal of offering recycling options to its customers in U.S. and Canadian stores by mid-decade is looking like a tall order.
In 2008, the Seattle coffee giant, which prides itself on a humane approach to the pursuit of profit, declared that implementing so-called “front-of-store” recycling of cups and other waste in all its North American stores would be a “single, universal solution” to mitigate its environmental impact.
But in a report released Wednesday, Starbucks says that has proved more difficult than it thought. The reason: Different cities across Starbucks’ sprawling footprint have varying degrees of zeal when it comes to recycling. And there’s not a market for coffee-stained paper cups everywhere.
So now, without abandoning in-store recycling bins, Starbucks will look at other, more realistic ways to further its environmental goals.
“We have struggled to implement this single solution in local markets across the entire Starbucks portfolio,” Starbucks wrote in its annual “global responsibility report.”
“While we continue to work to increase the availability of front-of-store recycling where we can, we cannot do this work alone. Going forward we will explore new ways to lower our impact.”
That’s not to say Starbucks hasn’t made progress. In 2013, front-of-store recycling was available in 39 percent of its U.S. and Canadian stores, a big improvement from the 24 percent reported in 2012 and 5 percent in 2010. But that’s still a long way from its 100 percent goal for 2015.
Moreover, only 71 percent of those locations were able to recycle or compost paper cups made for hot beverages, which are the bulk of Starbucks’ business.
A big part of the challenge is that for cups to be called recyclable, local recyclers must be able to collect them, process them and sell them to paper mills and other manufacturers, something that doesn’t happen everywhere, Starbucks’ director of environmental Jim Hanna said. From a material standpoint, “the cups we use are pretty recyclable already,” he said.
Starbucks has also been prodding coffee drinkers to bring their own tumblers by offering a discount. It also sells cheap reusable cups and has been tweaking its store design to feature mugs more prominently — so clients who drink their beverage in the store may opt for those instead.
