Starbucks Started the Trend! Everyone Followed!

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The Environmental Challenge of Coffee Cup Waste

With the continuous popularization of coffee, the development of the delivery industry, and the ever-increasing user base, those takeaway coffee cups that bring convenience to our lives have also become another major source of pollution on Earth. Environmental topics have become commonplace in the coffee industry—innovations in packaging, reuse of coffee grounds, paper straws, etc. Additionally, many coffee shops promote discounts for customers who bring their own cups, and some are gradually implementing reusable cups in their stores.

FamilyMart's Initiative: Reusable Cups in Taiwan

Recently, FamilyMart, a convenience store chain with over 15,789 stores nationwide, announced that by the end of 2022, it would introduce reusable cups to 400 stores in the Taiwan region, accounting for one-tenth of the total stores. According to the environmental organization Greenpeace, FamilyMart will thus become the first chain convenience store in East Asia to introduce reusable cups on a large scale.

For consumers who don't bring their own cups but don't want to use disposable ones, they can rent reusable "circular cups" in-store. It is understood that FamilyMart stores in the Taiwan region use approximately 118 million disposable beverage cups annually. If we estimate that among 10% of FamilyMart stores, 1% of consumers use reusable cups, 100,000 disposable beverage cups could be saved in one year. If 10% of consumers use reusable cups, 1 million disposable beverage cups could be saved annually—a significant reduction in waste. With the effect of scale, if this project can gradually spread to all branches, it will certainly bring excellent plastic reduction results.

FamilyMart is a Japanese chain convenience store founded in 1972. On August 18, 1988, FamilyMart began entering the Taiwan region, establishing its first store in Zhongshan District, Taipei City, through a joint venture between Japan's FamilyMart and Taiwan's HeFeng Enterprise Group. Currently, it has over 4,000 stores across Taiwan.

Industry Leaders Join the Reusable Cup Movement

In recent years, many food and beverage companies have begun to launch cup rental services to reduce the use of disposable cups. In 2021, Starbucks also announced the launch of a "Borrow a Cup" program in its hometown of Seattle—a pilot plan lasting two months, which would be considered for global trials if successful. According to reports, consumers who take away Starbucks paper cups need to pay a $1 deposit first, and these cups can eventually be returned through the store's kiosk or door-to-door pickup service. After returning the paper cups, consumers can get back their $1 and receive 10 Starbucks reward stars.

Starbucks will clean and disinfect these recovered cups using commercial dishwashers before returning them to stores for reuse. Of course, if you don't want to return the cup, you can keep it—equivalent to purchasing the cup by not refunding the deposit.

This March, Starbucks announced that it would gradually phase out disposable paper and plastic cups over the next three years, instead offering reusable cups to customers. The company is working to achieve its self-set goal of reducing waste by 2030 and addressing customer concerns about sustainability.

In 2021, McDonald's also announced a partnership with Loop, a circular packaging service platform, to trial reusable coffee cups in some UK restaurants. This program began in 2021, and at the same time, McDonald's will continue to reduce the use of traditional disposable paper coffee cups.

Similar to Starbucks' approach, customers who want to use these cups need to pay a deposit first and purchase a reusable cup. After finishing their drink, customers can return the cup to get their deposit back. Return points can be either in-store or directly to Loop's prepared collection points. Loop will clean and disinfect these cups and arrange for their next use.

Challenges and Future Prospects

Because the cups used are still paper-based, and reuse may involve health and hygiene issues, market acceptance remains uncertain. Moreover, many people may still psychologically struggle with "sharing a cup with strangers." However, if cleanliness and hygiene can be guaranteed, this method does indeed contribute to environmental protection.

Such plastic reduction solutions have been rejected, but many people have not given up on environmental protection and continue to persist in their efforts. Although this may not completely solve the global plastic pollution problem, significant steps taken by large enterprises can absolutely change consumer behavior and drive industry thinking.

Starting with a single reusable cup to cultivate consumer habits and concepts will enable future demands for more companies to provide plastic-free options, thereby accelerating the realization of a plastic-free future.

Image source: Internet

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