Starbucks to pilot 'greener' to-go cups across Vancouver

Starbucks has announced that they will be piloting “greener” to-go coffee cups across Vancouver as a part of their global environmental aspirations.

The news falls in line with the coffee giant’s plan to eliminate plastic straws by 2020, and to donate all unsold food products.

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Select stores across Vancouver are set to join those in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and London to trial new, greener cups for takeaway beverages.

The new cups are designed to be more recyclable and compostable than existing cup options. The company will choose technologies from the NextGen Cup Challenge winners, which were announced earlier this month.

Starbucks initiated the Consortium in Spring 2018 with Closed Loop Partners. Its mission includes identifying cup technologies that can be recyclable and compostable worldwide.

The Consortium’s work supports Starbucks’ efforts to minimize its environmental footprint and maximize sustainability practices, one of which is to double the recycled content, recyclability and the reusability of its cups from 2016 to 2022.

“There’s still lots of work to do to bring a solution to a global scale but it’s significant for Vancouver to be included in this important pilot,” said Allen Langdon, an industry expert, who was tapped to be a NextGen judge representing Canada. “We love our coffee, there’s no doubt about that but we also feel strongly about the environment. We live in one of the most beautiful places on earth and there’s a strong desire to protect what’s around us,”

In addition to the greener to-go cups coming to Vancouver, Starbucks Canada has announced that it will debut strawless lids in Toronto.

Which means from coast to coast, you’ll be able to enjoy your coffee in a sustainable way.