Starbucks To Begin Radical Recycling Campaign This Fall

Starbucks has finally decided to drag themselves out of the eco dark ages and will soon begin a radical recycling program. No, they're just raising the post consumer waste content of their disposable cups. Starting this fall Starbucks will begin a test program involving their Chicago stores in which used paper cups will be sent to a Georgia Pacific paper mill in Wisconsin to be recycled back into Starbucks napkins.

That is huge.

According to Earth911.org,

"The company has not yet announced how these cups will be collected from customers, but it would not be the first time the coffee chain addressed waste management in an entire metro area.

Earlier this month, Seattle stores installed compost and recycling bins and switched to compostable packaging for to-go containers as part of a new city law. However, paper cups were deemed "un-compostable" by the city's compost partner Cedar Grove Composting, although they are accepted for recycling through the city's curbside program.

In 2009, Starbucks locations in San Francisco added recycling and compost bins as part of the city's mandatory composting ordinance. San Francisco's composting partner found that the cups were, in fact, compostable.

And in New York, the cups are combined with corrugated cardboard and recycled through a partnership with Global Green USA.

Once Chicago's recycling program is up and running, Starbucks will have addressed in-store cup recycling in four of the nation's 13 largest markets. This comes at a time when large recyclers such as Waste Management have stated that the cups are not recycled in their program. So, for many consumers, the only recycling option would be to have them handled by individual stores."

Why is this program such a huge step for the ‘Bucks? Out of the 16 billion paper cups used for coffee each year by Americans, Starbucks customers are responsible for an estimated 3 billion cups of those cups. About My Planet says, "This equals about 6.5 million trees. Overall, North Americans use 58% of all paper cups, amounting to a staggering 130 billion cups - including hot and cold beverages."

Of course if recycling is good, reducing is better. Next time you pop in Starbucks, or your other local coffee shop of choice, try using one of their ceramic mugs or even bring your own. You may even get a discount for it.

[Photo: MissTurner/flickr]