Vancouver Gets To Test Starbucks’ New Cups This Week Before The Rest Of Canada
Those iconic white paper cups from Starbucks are getting a greener makeover. After a long time coming, Vancouverites can finally sip their coffee in a fully compostable Starbucks cup. What's more, the new design looks and feels the same as before — you'll hardly notice a difference.
The cups are launching for in-market testing in Vancouver on Monday, March 9. This comes after a year of development after they first announced the design.
Other cities that'll be testing the cup are Seattle, San Francisco, London, and New York, making Vancouver the only Canadian city to get them.
Soon, you'll be able to enjoy your favourite coffee without worrying about creating waste destined for the landfill.
The testing is to ensure their new design looks and feels exactly like their old, non-compostable cups. While you're busy testing out the kinks, the franchise will be working to make sure the cups are as compostable as advertised.
This isn't some haphazardly-glued together lump of granola, after all. The cup is as clean white as ever, with their crisp green logo stamped on the side.
"The company is focusing on ways to better manage its waste, both in Starbucks stores and in the communities it serves by ensuring more reuse and recycling," said the company in a press release.
Vancouver has such a strong Starbucks connection that it makes perfect sense for it to be the only Canadian city to test the new cups.
The first location outside of the U.S. was at Vancouver's Waterfront Station. Plus, there are so many locations in the city it's dizzying — over 100 according to a local Reddit thread.
In 2008, they made a sustainability commitment that "100 percent of Starbucks cups will be reusable or recyclable" by 2015.
It's 2020 and they're just now launching tests of their new cup designed to be compostable and recyclable.
The secret to the cup is a lining of BioPBS™ inside the cup, an idea that won their design challenge back in 2019.
Hundreds of designs flooded their gates, but only 12 teams of experts and cup scientists managed to come out on top.