A nonprofit says Starbucks is falsely claiming its plastic cups are "widely recyclable." An investigation found no confirmation that any of them were salvaged.
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How Did the Investigation Work?
As reported by the New York Post, Beyond Plastics, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Vermont, placed 69 Bluetooth-enabled trackers inside the coffee chain's in-store recycling bins.
Over two-thirds of the trackers provided data. Of those, 23 ended up in landfills, and 11 were at incinerator facilities.
Another 10 trackers were detected at waste transfer stations, which are typically a stop on the way to a landfill. Three actually made it to material recovery facilities, which sort plastics for possible recycling. Even so, the group says it could not confirm a single cup was actually recycled.
"It's kind of stunning that they won't tell the public where this plastic is going after people dutifully make sure it's clean and put it in the special recycling bin," said Judith Enck, the president of Beyond Plastics.
The investigation also linked one cup to a waste facility in Peekskill, New Jersey. According to Beyond Plastics, it is the largest source of air pollution in Westchester County.
"Starbucks made $1.8 billion in profit in North America last year," said Courtney Williams, a cancer researcher. "How much of that was made from polluting our air, soil, and waterways with single-use plastic?"
Starbucks Has Responded to the Report
A Starbucks spokesperson responded to the investigation.
"Studies that place electronic trackers inside cups do not reflect how recycling systems operate in practice," they told the Post. "These materials, like Bluetooth-enabled trackers, are not accepted in recycling streams and can introduce contamination, which may change where cups are routed. Starbucks cups are designed to be recyclable and have received a 'widely accepted for recycling' designation from How2Recycle."
The study follows the coffee shop chain's 2020 pledge to make all customer packaging reusable by the end of the decade. In 2024, it allowed customers to bring their own cups for orders.
Earlier this year, Starbucks and WM, formerly known as Waste Management, issued a press release stating that the chain's cold beverage cups were now "widely recyclable."
