Starbucks to eliminate plastic straws globally by 2020

Starbucks Coffee Co. has announced it will eliminate single-use plastic straws from its more than 28,000 company operated and licensed stores by making a strawless lid or alternative-material straw options available, around the world. Starbucks, the largest food and beverage retailer to make such a global commitment, anticipates the move will eliminate more than one billion plastic straws per year from Starbucks stores.

Starbucks has designed, developed, and manufactured a strawless lid, which will become the standard for all iced coffee, tea, and espresso beverages. The lid is currently available in more than 8,000 stores in the United States and Canada for select beverages including Starbucks Draft Nitro and Cold Foam. The lid is also being piloted for Nitrobeverages in additional markets including China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. In addition, Starbucks will begin offering straws made from alternative materials—including paper or compostable plastic—for Frappuccinoblended beverages, and available by request for customers who prefer or need a straw.

Customers in Seattle and Vancouver, Canada will be the first to see the strawless lids implemented, starting this fall, with phased rollouts within the United States and Canada to follow in 2019. A global rollout of the strawless lid will follow, beginning in Europe where strawless lids will arrive in select stores in France and the Netherlands, as well as in the United Kingdom.

“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. With eight million metric tons of plastic entering the ocean every year, we cannot afford to let industry sit on the sidelines, and we are grateful for Starbucks leadership in this space,” said Nicholas Mallos, director of Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas program.

Press release