How Does American Coffee Style Glassware Cut Plastic?

Starbucks Japan began offering glass cups for cold drinks consumed in-store at 106 locations on April 18, 2022. The reusable glasses come in Short, Tall, Grand and Venti sizes, with Grand and Venti available only at Reserve stores, as part of a plan to cut plastic waste by 50 percent by 2030.

The in-store glasses follow an American pint glass style with the Starbucks logo on the body, and they are not the rare collector glassware some customers hoped to use. The move mirrors sustainability steps by Starbucks in the US and South Korea, while questions remain about hygiene and convenience for dine-in service.

The proliferation of single-use plastic cups is drawing global attention, with governments and food service brands rolling out restrictions. Starbucks Japan has announced that starting April 18, 2022, it will offer glass cups for cold drinks consumed in-store at 106 locations, as part of its sustainability plan aimed at reducing plastic waste by 50% by 2030. This move follows in the eco-friendly footsteps of Starbucks in the US and South Korea, though questions remain about the hygiene and convenience of glass cups. Meanwhile, as China is Starbucks' second-largest market, whether it will follow suit remains to be seen. This article provides a detailed look at Starbucks Japan's glass cup initiative, design details, and the environmental challenges behind it.

In the past, single-use plastic cups were everywhere on the streets; now, they are becoming hard to find. To reduce reliance on single-use plastic cups, many governments and food service companies have introduced bans restricting their use. Starting next month, Starbucks Japan will switch to glass cups for cold drinks consumed in-store.

As summer approaches, cold drinks are once again becoming a favorite. Observant customers may have noticed that Starbucks uses single-use plastic cups not only for takeaway cold drinks but also for those consumed in-store. To achieve its vision of "reducing plastic waste by 50% by 2030," Starbucks has launched a sustainability program, one aspect of which is to curb the consumption of single-use coffee cups by providing reusable cups.

Starbucks Japan is following the sustainable practices of Starbucks in the US and South Korea by offering glass cups for cold drinks consumed in-store at 106 Starbucks locations in Japan starting April 18, 2022. These glass cups come in four sizes: Short, Tall, Grand, and Venti. Among them, the Grand and Venti cold drink glass cups are only available at Reserve stores.

Most people have some idea about the design of Starbucks glass cups. So, does Starbucks Japan offering glass cups for in-store cold drinks mean there's a chance to personally use some of Starbucks' rare glass cups? The answer is no. The glass cups provided by Starbucks for in-store cold drinks are in the American pint glass style, with the Starbucks logo printed on the body.

Today's coffee cold drinks feature both patterns and layers in their appearance, and being served in transparent plastic cups makes them perfect for photos.

With oil resources increasingly strained and environmental pollution worsening, the habit of bringing one's own cup when going out is not yet widespread, and single-use cups are becoming almost impossible to find. Coffee Workshop previously reported that American coffee drinkers were nearly reduced to cupping their hands to drink coffee, and food service establishments were sharing inventories of single-use cups and lids with their peers. In addition, Starbucks once "mandated" a related environmental program, requiring customers to pay a $1 deposit to get their drink.

However, reusable cups have also faced skepticism. Amid the pandemic, with the virus raging, people inevitably worry about the health status of the previous user of the reusable cup they are holding, and whether the cup was properly cleaned after use. To get the deposit back, one would also have to make a special trip back to the Starbucks store, which is simply too cumbersome for people who consider even walking to the subway for commuting as exercise.

Currently, searching for Starbucks-related new products on online platforms reveals that most Starbucks stores in China are still providing single-use plastic cups and lids.

At present, China is one of Starbucks' key focus areas and also its second-largest market. Will China receive the same treatment in the near future?

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.