MOSCOW (MRC) -- Starbucks, which doles out more than 1 billion straws a year, says it will phase out single-use plastic straws from its stores by 2020, said the company on its site.
The coffee giant – the largest retailer to commit to eliminating single-use plastic straws – said Monday that it will replace the ubiquitous plastic straw with recyclable "strawless lids," as well as straws made from biodegradable materials, as part of a no-plastic-straws movement that has gained momentum in recent years.
Starbucks — which has more than 28,000 stores and generated USD22.4 billion in annual revenue last year — said that more than half of its beverage sales come from cold drinks, which typically come with a plastic straw.
At Starbucks, executives said the efforts are part of a USD10 million plan to develop cups and lids that are fully recyclable and compostable. Stores in Seattle and Vancouver will be the first to begin using the new strawless lids — essentially a top with a built-in lip for easy drinking — which will be used for iced coffee, tea and espresso drinks beginning in the fall. Ice-blended Frappuccinos, meanwhile, will be served with straws made of paper or compostable plastic.
The company also offers a 10-cent discount to customers who bring in their own cups.
Starbucks declined to comment on the financial impact of replacing plastic straws, which have become widely used in restaurants in part because they are so cheap. (Starbucks now charges a 5-pence paper cup fee in its U.K. stores, though it was unclear whether the company would add similar surcharges in the United States.)
The no-straw movement, which had already been brewing in certain communities and beach towns, gained mainstream traction three years ago after a video showing a sea turtle with a plastic straw wedged in its nose went viral. Plastic straws never completely decompose and can be harmful, even fatal, to animals that ingest them.
A number of local governments — from Malibu, Calif., to Miami Beach, Florida — have recently passed legislation restricting the use and distribution of plastic straws. Starbucks’s hometown of Seattle banned plastic straws and utensils beginning this month, while California cities including Malibu, Davis and San Luis Obispo prohibit restaurants from handing out plastic straws unless a customer requests one.
MRC