In the latest sign that the pandemic is ending, Starbucks is bringing back a program popular with its most loyal customers: Reusable cups.
But they have to be clean.
The Seattle-based coffee giant on Tuesday said that it will reintroduce personal reusable cups in company-operated locations by June 22.
The program had ended last year as part of the chain’s effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 as the pandemic was beginning to hit. The company will offer customers a 10-cent discount on their beverage if they opt for a reusable cup over a single-use version.
Reusable cups can also help Starbucks achieve one of its environmental commitments, to reduce single-use cup waste and reduce its overall waste 50% by 2030.
The company said it would only accept clean cups from customers who want to use a reusable cup. The company said it held extensive trials of the new process. The company will not clean them for customers and is currently testing strategies for allowing the use of personal cups through the drive-thru—which is a key element of the chain’s development strategy for the coming years.
Starbucks also said it is reinstating “For Here Ware” for customers who plan to drink their beverages or eat their food inside one of the chain’s restaurants.
When customers want to bring their own cups, they place the cup into a ceramic mug provided by the company but keep their own lid. Starbucks baristas then make the beverage holding only the mug and present the beverage to the customer when finished. The customer then places the lid on the cup themselves and can go.
Starbucks is looking at options to cut back on single-use cups inside its restaurants. It is working with Closed Loop Partners and the NextGen Consortium, among others, to test strategies to make the chain’s cups, lids and straws easier to recycle or compost. The company is also working with municipalities to improve recycling and composting.
It is also working on reusable cup sharing programs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa by 2025 and Starbucks South Kkora will launch a Borrow-a-Cup program this July.
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