Photo: Starbucks
Starbucks on Wednesday became the first national coffee chain to give customers the option to use reusable cups for drive-thru and mobile orders.
The move means reusable coffee cups will be largely available regardless of how customers order at Starbucks’ North American locations. Since 1985, customers have been able to use their own clean, personal cups when ordering in person at most Starbucks locations.
The move comes as Starbucks has increasingly faced hurdles in fulfilling its goal of reducing its waste footprint by 50% by 2030, as drive-thru and app orders together have grown to account for about 70% of sales at company-operated U.S. stores. Both options leapfrogged in popularity since the pandemic.
Single-use cups account for 20% of the chain’s global waste. Paper cups supporting hot drinks require plastic linings to prevent leakage, making them hard to recycle. For years now, Greenpeace has pushed Starbucks to abandon disposable cups altogether.
Starbucks said in its press release, “This is part of a larger cultural movement the company is leading to shift toward reusables and away from single-use plastics, making it convenient for customers to use their own personal cup for every visit.”
For customers, the eco-friendly push carries some inconveniences. Personal cups must be cleaned before bringing them to locations, as baristas won’t rinse them out. The chain also won’t accept cups larger than 40 ounces.
Under the new process:
- For drive-thru orders, customers tell the barista during the ordering process that they’ve brought their own mug. For app orders, a new “personal cup” option has been added to the “customization” button during the ordering process.
- Baristas then make the drink in a separate custom container that has “standardized lines” baristas need for measurements.
- At the pickup window, baristas collect customers’ personal cups without the lids using a contactless vessel to ensure hygiene and safety. They then pour the drink from the custom container into the personal cup and return the beverage in the contactless vessel.
Like how the process has worked for walk-ins, customers receive a 10-cent discount every time they use a personal cup as well as 25 stars for Starbucks’ rewards members.
Customers choosing to sit and stay in the café can also request a reusable ceramic or glass cup at most stores.
With this “milestone” move, Starbucks must be careful not to put additional pressure on baristas already tasked with speeding through complicated, customized orders. The chain has battled both labor-related boycotts and unionization pushes.
Skeptics may also question the net environmental benefit given the emission damage of cars idling in drive-thru lanes. Starbucks told Axios that "overall drive-thru times were not negatively impacted" in its test of personal cups at 200 Colorado stores last spring.