Huhtamaki and Starbucks will trial compostable cups for cold beverages in select US locations, constituting moulded fibre lids and double-walled paperboard cups with a bioplastic liner.
A Starbucks spokesperson told the International Molded Fiber Assocation (IMFA) that the fibre-based lids and cups will be opaque.
Huhtamaki North America president Ann O’Hara announced the partnership regarding moulded fibre lids on LinkedIn. She stated that, although they “might just look like a [sic] simple moulded fibre lids for a cold drink”, production is “not as easy as it looks” as the lids must fit firmly onto a cup.
Huhtamaki says that the post-consumer recycled fibre is partially implemented into its products – including egg cartons, fruit packaging, and foodservice cup carriers – is sourced from old newspapers, among other materials.
According to O’Hara and USA Today, the compostable packaging pilot will initially take place at 21 participating Starbucks locations in California and three in Minnesota; this is because both states are currently implementing laws regarding Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The rollout will be based on local mandates and will likely expand to more markets in the future, the spokesperson said.
As USA Today explains, the Alameda Disposable Food Service Ware Reduction Law – one of several legal mandates recently introduced to the United States in an effort to tackle waste and pollution – seeks to encourage foodservice businesses in the Bay Area to serve food in reusable packaging. However, if reusables are unavailable, eateries can offer fibre-based, compostable packaging for takeaway options.
It is hoped that modifying its cups and lids will help Starbucks achieve its new 2030 targets: achieving 100% reusability, recyclability, or compostability; ensuring its packaging is sourced from 50% recycled materials; and utilizing 50% less virgin fossil fuel-derived materials in its packaging production. These come in addition to its existing goal to halve waste in its stores and direct operations, among others.
Starbucks’ FY23 sustainability report suggests that it sold 2% of its beverages in reusable cups later year, an increase of approximately 1.2% compared to the previous fiscal year. In FY22, it stated that it had permanently retired its goal to achieve 100% compostable and recyclable hot cups by 2022; instead, it designed a new hot cup containing less paper and less plastic liner.
It was also reported in 2022 that Starbucks had missed its goal to double its reusable cups by 2022 from a 2016 baseline of around 1.4%.
Meanwhile, Huhtamaki claims to have increased moulded fibre production at several global facilities in 2023 in its annual report.
The trial comes as Starbucks recently joined forces with Closed Loop Partners to distribute reusable cups as default takeaway packaging in Petaluma, California, from 5th August 2024. The move is hoped to replace ‘hundreds of thousands’ of single-use cups and encourage reuse behaviour among consumers.
Starbucks has also set out a roadmap towards a more sustainable coffee cup – including designing cups, straws, and lids for recycling, with the single-use fibre cups currently served on site said to contain 30% post-consumer recycled content.
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