Starbucks does not recycle plastic cups it claims are ‘widely recyclable’, report says

Watchdog group glued trackers to 53 of the chain’s cups across nine states and found none ended up at a recycling facility If you attach a GPS tracker to a “widely recyclable” plastic Starbucks cup and drop it in an in-store recycling bin, you might expect it to end up in a recycling plant, but the environmental watchdog organization Beyond Plastics says that’s not the case in a new report. Starbucks announced that their plastic cups were now considered “widely recyclable” earlier this year, according to How2Recycle, a group affiliated with the consumer packaging industry that helps private companies label their packaging with recycling options. The coffee giant touted the achievement as a “big milestone, with huge impact”. Continue reading...

Nora Neus · Wed, May 20, 2026, 10:04 AM
US news | The Guardian

Starbucks does not recycle plastic cups it claims are ‘widely recyclable’, report says

Watchdog group glued trackers to 53 of the chain’s cups across nine states and found none ended up at a recycling facility

If you attach a GPS tracker to a “widely recyclable” plastic Starbucks cup and drop it in an in-store recycling bin, you might expect it to end up in a recycling plant, but the environmental watchdog organization Beyond Plastics says that’s not the case in a new report.

Starbucks announced that their plastic cups were now considered “widely recyclable” earlier this year, according to How2Recycle, a group affiliated with the consumer packaging industry that helps private companies label their packaging with recycling options. The coffee giant touted the achievement as a “big milestone, with huge impact”.

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