Citing sustainability, Starbucks wants to overhaul its iconic cup. Will customers go along?
Associated Press
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A single-use cup undergoes a rigidity test at the Tryer Center at Starbucks headquarters, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. Paper pulp from recycled cups has shorter fibers than virgin pulp, which means less rigidity, important particularly with hot coffee. Part of the company's goal is to cut waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)Reusable cups sit on the counter during a test at the Tryer Center at Starbucks headquarters, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. Part of the company's goal is to cut waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)Senior Packaging Engineer Kyle Walker explains a tilt test for cups at the Tryer Center at Starbucks headquarters, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. Technicians examine different parts of the cup to see where less material may be used without weakening it. "If it passes tests with baristas, then we would put it in the stores," Walker said. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)Tryer Lab partners Chan Chan and Emma Parnello, right, make drinks while running a reusable cup test at the Tryer Center at Starbucks headquarters, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. Part of the company's goals is to cut waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)Plastic cups for cold drinks undergo a shake test on an orbital shaker at the Tryer Center at Starbucks headquarters, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. Technicians look for leaks and flaws. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)Starbucks employee Pyper takes customer orders at a Starbucks retail location, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. The company's goal to to cut waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)Harmony Mathison, right, uses a headset to talk to a customer at a Starbucks retail location, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. The company's goal is to cut waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)Starbucks reusables business strategy senior manager Mary-Catherine Burton, left, takes notes as Tryer Lab partner Sam Farahani discusses design during a personal cup focus group at the Tryer Center at Starbucks headquarters, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. The company's goals is to cut waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)Starbucks employees discuss personal cup designs in a focus group at the Tryer Center at Starbucks headquarters, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. The company's goal is to cut waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)Tryer Lab partner Antonio Retano pours a drink during a reusable personal cup test at the Tryer Center at Starbucks headquarters, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. The company's goals is to cut waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)A single-use cup made from 30% post-consumer recycled fiber sits at a Starbucks retail location, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. The company's goal is to cut waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)Tyler Eglen, project manager Walton Sustainability Solutions Service, shreds a cup at the Arizona State University Circular Living Lab Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in Mesa, Ariz. Cups, part of the "borrowed" cup program too damaged to be reused, along with disposable Starbucks cold drink cups and other plastic found in the trash, are sent to the lab. They're shredded, melted and extruded into long, lumber-like pieces. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)Valencia Villanueva poses for a photo with a reusable cup at an Arizona State University Starbucks shop Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in Tempe, Ariz. Villanueva has noted a growing consciousness among customers about the cup-washing machine and the "borrowed" cup program. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)A reusable cup is washed at an Arizona State University Starbucks shop Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in Tempe, Ariz. At the store, there are bins around campus, and the cups are washed by the university part of a partnership with Starbucks and returned to the store. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)Different kind of reusable cups are displayed at an Arizona State University Starbucks shop Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in Tempe, Ariz. At the Arizona State store, if customers don't bring their own cup, they are given a reusable plastic one with a Starbucks logo. If they bring it back, they get $1 off, just like customers who bring their own. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)Tyler Eglen, project manager at Walton Sustainability Solutions Service, at the Arizona State University Circular Living Lab, shorts shredded plastic on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in Mesa, Ariz. Starbucks has been increasing the amount of recycled material in disposable paper cups. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)Tyler Eglen, project manager of Walton Sustainability Solutions Service, at the Arizona State University Circular Living Lab, pushes melted plastic through a bar on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in Mesa, Ariz. Starbucks has been increasing the amount of recycled material in disposable paper cups. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)A reusable cup is returned to a borrow a cup return bin at an Arizona State University Starbucks shop Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in Tempe, Ariz. At the Arizona State store, if customers don't bring their own cup, they are given a reusable plastic one with a Starbucks logo. If they bring it back, they get $1 off, just like customers who bring their own. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)Customers pick up their drinks at a Starbucks retail location, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. Part of the company's goals is to cut waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)Starbucks Chief Sustainability Officer Michael Kobori holds a reusable cup used in a new "Borrow-a-Cup" program during an interview at the Tryer Center at Starbucks headquarters, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. "Our vision for the cup of the future and our Holy Grail, if you will is that the cup still has the iconic symbol on it," says Michael Kobori, head of sustainability at Starbucks. "It's just as a reusable cup." (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
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A single-use cup undergoes a rigidity test at the Tryer Center at Starbucks headquarters, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. Paper pulp from recycled cups has shorter fibers than virgin pulp, which means less rigidity, important particularly with hot coffee. Part of the company's goal is to cut waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)