Are Starbucks Cups Recyclable?

Starbucks coffee cups. They are everywhere. I’ve seen many people throw them away. I’ve seen some eco-experts put them in composting bins. And personally I have even tried to wash them and recycle them. Don’t try that at home.

So which is it?  The final Jeopardy question is: what is the best thing to do with a Starbucks cup when the last drop of coffee is gone? 

A) Compost it
B) Recycle it
C) Throw it away
D) None of the above – bring your own cup (BYOC)

D is of course the ultimate green answer! but this still leaves our conundrum.

My curiosity grew when I visited Tully’s Coffee recently and was hit over the head with their new 100% Compostable Green Cup. Ah ha. This was a clue. Why is Tully’s making such a big deal about this? It is fabulous of course, but it also insinuated that competing cups might be paper in non-green clothes.

When I was randomly selected for a Starbucks survey, I decided it had to be fate. I would go to the source and ask the burning question. Are Starbucks paper cups recyclable or compostable?

Here is the answer, verbatim from Starbucks:

"Starbucks white paper cups, used for hot beverages, are made of paper fiber and the industry standard liner (low-density polyethylene plastic). The paper provides the rigidity for the cup, while the plastic layer keeps the paper layer intact by protecting it from the hot beverage. This plastic layer also makes the hot beverage cups unrecyclable in most paper recycling systems. We are continually evaluating alternatives to the current plastic coating, and are currently conducting life cycle assessments for bio-based plastics."

Wow, there you have it folks. It is the plastic cup liner that is the culprit and makes the current Starbucks paper cup neither compostable nor recyclable.

So the Answer to the question is C. Starbucks cups are not recyclable. You have to trash the Starbucks cup - throw it away - because it contains paper and plastic.

Starbucks cups contain 10% recycled paper which is an excellent start, but they are not recyclable or compostable because of the plastic liner. To use Bill McDonough's term, Starbucks hot cups are a monstrous hybrid of a biological item (paper) and a technical item (plastic).

Let’s hope that Starbucks will consider switching to a cup with a bio-liner like the new ecotainer hot cup. Starbucks goes through over 2.3 billion paper cups a year. Imagine the green bounty if all of that trash could be diverted and reused.

We can fight back via BYOC - bring your own cup, mug or tumbler to Starbacks. Care not cups. Climate not cups.

In the meantime, I still love a good Starbucks Chai Latte, and I'm trying hard to bring my own mug every time. Plus the 10 cents cup credit is almost as sweet as the vanilla syrup.

For more, please see Bring Your Own Cup.

Update May 2009:  Thanks to comments and questions from you the community, Starbucks has finally decided to try to tackle its cup issue. We applaud Starbucks for convening a Cup Summit this month. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has pledged that all of its iconic Starbucks paper cups will be recyclable by the year 2012. That is 3 and a half years away. Given that Starbucks is going through 3 billion cups now per year, that is over 10 billion more paper cups that will be thrown away.

In the meantime, Starbucks please implement some solutions that patrons can use right away. First, in regions where composting is feasible, switch some cafes to ecotainer 100% compostable cups and put green bins in those stores. This solution is available now. Second, offer more for-here ceramic mugs in the cafes. Some Starbucks have them now, but they are often hidden behind the counter. May I have that in a ceramic mug please?  Third, start a national irresistable Bring Your Own Cup promotion and reward each patron 15 cents. It will be popular!  Let us have our coffee - or chai tea - and our planet too. Let's continue to let Starbucks know how we feel via their Facebook page and their Starbucks customer service site. Thank you for caring about this issue. You are making a difference. Onwards to a caffeine-fueled victory! 

Comments

[Fred]

Our BYOC change was hard but we are almost there. 90% of our mornings start with homebrewed fair trade coffee thanks to our new habit of setting the pot up the night before. If we do hit Starbucks cupless, we focus on recycling the sleeve. Thanks for the info!

[Ferris]

Another side effect of petroleum lined paper cups is the fact that if you need to heat your coffee up in the microwave it is also melting the plastic lining into your beverage.
There are new cups on the market now that use Soy lining. I hope Starbucks hurries up and makes the switch.

[Michael Lee]

I hope the BYOC actually come out to play in our society and also charging 10 cents or more per cup. That way more residents will recognize how important it is not to throw away carelessly and understand all earthly habits are connected to pollutions.
Thank you for your endeavors.

[jeff epstein]

The ecotainer cup is not as strong of a solution as it seems on the surface... Tully's could do it because they have a regional relationship with a composter willing to take the cups.... but for a company like Starbucks with a footprint of stores all over, it is challenging because it requires composting facilities not available everywhere, composters willing to pick up the stuff (and the fossil fuels and labor expended in doing so)... otherwise the cups still go to the landfill where they don't biodegrade. Also the use of corn crops has had serious reverberating effects on food prices as well as dairy, and the ecotainer does not utilize any recycled content... I'm in the beverage industry and I study this stuff, and you are right that the easiest solution is the use of mugs in store and people bringing their own...

[Charlotte]

Thank you for this info I am always wondering if I should recycle them as my other paper trash but I noticed the plastic and decided not to without knowing for sure, thanks to make me sure!
They definitely need to find a solution I hurt to think how many cups are thrown away each day!

[ashley]

thanks for this! it was very informative. I'm doing a bit of an independant study on coffee companies and found this very helpful.

[Rockstar]

Thanks for the article! I was holding on to a few cups before finding this post. Just a little add on - the plastic top can be recycled and the cardboard sleeve can be recycled. Still not the best, but let's at least recycle what we can when we forget to BYOC.

[Alistair]

I pay only 55 cents for refills by taking in my non-recyclable Starbucks paper cup. Why would I BYOC and only get a meager 10 cent discount on my refill? Having said that - it's total BS for Starbucks not to have a recyclable cup - per Rockstar, at least get the new lid and the sleeve in the recycling.

[Emily]

Thank you for this article! I myself, being both a fan of Starbucks and of the environment, have wondered frustratingly what for the sign at the recycling station asks not to dispose of the cups there... now I know. And following a news report on B.C.'s Dave Korzinski's boycott against Tim Hortons' Roll Up the Rim contest, I've decided to write an argumentative essay on such issues for an english class. This article has been very useful for that and also for the eco-friendly solution suggested: BYOC! FTW! :)

[Reader]

Ran across your post while checking whether such cups can go in our composter.

Well, 2012 is almost over and Starbucks has failed to keep their pledge. Not exactly a surprise from Corporate America, the new Evil Empire.

On their website they use weasel words like "do more," "build momentum," and "progress." In other words...there's a little handwaving going on but no actual results. Yeah, I thought so.