https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/03/food/starbucks-reusable-cup-expansion/index.html

Starbucks is expanding the ways its staff can fill customers’ personal cups as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce the massive amount of waste the coffee chain produces from its iconic cups constantly thrown in the trash.

Beginning Wednesday, Starbucks is adding the reusable cup option to drive-thru and Starbucks app orders, marking a “milestone” move the company said was previously only available for orders made in-person at its cafes since 1985.

For drive-thru orders, customers tell the barista during the ordering process that they’ve brought their own clean mug that staff will collect at the pickup window “using a contactless vessel to ensure hygiene and safety.”

For orders made in the Starbucks app, a new “personal cup” option is now added to the “customization” button during the ordering process. The customer places a order, then brings it to the store where they give the mug to a barista in the pickup area where the drink is made and given back in a “contactless vessel,” which is a larger mug.

Two caveats: Starbucks notes that the cups must be cleaned before bringing them and that baristas won’t rinse them out. The chain also won’t accept cups larger than 40 ounces.

It’s a significant expansion since drive-thru and app orders together account for about 70% of sales at US stores operated by the company, with both options having grown in popularity since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The chain’s traditional hot cups are made of both plastic and paper, so they’re difficult to recycle, prompting Starbucks to rethink a variety ways to reduce its waste output with a 50% reduction goal by 2030.