Starbucks goes for strawless lids

In a bid to reduce waste and safeguard the environment, Starbucks has announced that it will phase out plastic straws from its more than 28,000 stores worldwide by 2020, a decision that will eliminate more than 1 billion straws a year. In their place a strawless lid. 

 

Designed by Emily Alexander, the lid was originally designed for just one beverage to be used in just one store. But Alexander, an engineer in Global Research & Development at Starbucks, and her team set to work drawing up plans for a strawless lid that would showcase Starbucks’ Draft Nitro and its trademark cold foam that was being served at a Reserve store in Seattle.

 

For several weeks in 2016, the team set to work on complex designs including a two-piece twist-lock lid and a pull-tab lid that went nowhere. The versions that seemed most promising allowed customers to exult in the frothy foam, which Alexander calls “the hero of Nitro coffee.” Those anointed designs were then made into prototypes and shared with leadership, who would sit around, sip creamy foam through the lids and analyse their aesthetic. Ultimately, what emerged was a design that featured a teardrop-shaped opening about the size of a thumbprint — a cleaner, less-ridged version of a hot cup lid.  

 

From their debut in one initial store, the cold-cup lids now are used for a small number of drinks including Draft Nitro and Cold Foam in more than 8,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada. They will become the standard lid for all iced drinks except Frappuccino, which will be served with a straw made from paper or PLA compostable plastic manufactured from fermented plant starch or other sustainable material. Customers who prefer or need a straw can request one made of alternative materials for use with any cold drink. Last year in Santa Cruz, Calif., Starbucks started testing out straws made from materials other than traditional plastic. It is now in the middle of testing paper straws in its U.K. stores.

 

Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., customers will be the first to see the new lids replace single-use plastic straws, with other locations coming on board through 2020. “Starbucks’ decision to phase out single-use plastic straws is a shining example of the important role that companies can play in stemming the tide of ocean plastic,” said Nicholas Mallos, director of Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas program. “With 8 million metric tonnes of plastic entering the ocean every year, we cannot afford to let industry sit on the sidelines.”

 

 

The lid that is replacing the straws is also made of plastic, but its polypropylene content can be widely recycled. Erin Simon, director of sustainability research & development and material science at World Wildlife Fund U.S., called Starbucks’ decision to eliminate plastic straws “forward-thinking in tackling the material waste challenge.” Eliminating straws is a response to requests from partners and customers.  Going strawless is just one of the ways that Starbucks is thinking through more sustainable approaches to single-use packaging. The company has invested $10 million in the NextGen Cup Challenge, which seeks to develop a fully recyclable and compostable hot cup.

 

Starbucks is also encouraging customers to BYOT — “bring your own tumbler” — as part of its efforts to reduce waste. In 2014, Starbucks began selling a $1 reusable cup in the U.S. The cups soon became available in Canada and the U.K. as well. More than 18 million have been sold.  

 

Developing a recyclable alternative to plastic straws is particularly important as Starbucks’ cold beverage offerings continue to increase in popularity. Five years ago, cold beverages comprised 37 percent of sales; by 2017, that figure had jumped to more than 50 percent.