Washington, DC – Starbucks has announced that it will end its use of disposable cups in South Korea by 2025. The coffee chain will debut a cup circularity program, which will provide a reusable cup for a deposit that is refunded when the cup is returned and scanned at a kiosk. The program will begin to roll out in select stores this summer.
South Korea banned the use of disposable cups for dine-in customers in 2018. The environment ministry also revised a set of laws in February to further limit the use of plastic and disposable items.
Urging similar bold action in the United States, Greenpeace USA Oceans Campaign Director John Hocevar said:
“Starbucks’ decision to end its reliance on throwaway materials and implement a reuse program in South Korea is the kind of approach we have been waiting to see. But the company must not stop here, particularly as the bulk of Starbucks’ plastic footprint is not limited to Korea. There is no reason that Starbucks cannot expand this same reusable kiosk technology to its stores in the United States and around the world to ensure a much greater impact as quickly as possible. The pollution crisis calls for these types of bold solutions and we no longer have time to wait to scale them up in stores around the world in another 10 years.
“It appears that some pressure Starbucks felt to act was tied to South Korea’s policies that make it harder for companies to continue using single-use plastics. It is imperative that the United States Congress work as quickly as possible to pass the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act and that we join with other countries in developing a global plastics treaty to help spur the same shift toward reuse that we desperately need worldwide. Forward-thinking companies should be taking note and preparing for an end to the era of single-use plastics immediately.”
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Contact: Perry Wheeler, Greenpeace USA Senior Communications Specialist, P: 301-675-8766
