Starbucks is accelerating one of the most significant transformations in the history of its coffeehouses: changing the way millions of customers receive their coffee. The company announced a global strategy to redesign its cups and packaging to reduce plastic use, promote reuse, and increase recycling before 2030.

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The initiative is part of the Starbucks Global Impact Report FY2025, in which the company unveiled its new sustainability goals under the “Back to Starbucks” strategy, focused on securing the future of coffee, strengthening its workforce, and reducing the environmental impact of its operations.

The plan combines new materials, reuse programs, and improvements to recycling infrastructure so that every beverage leaves a smaller environmental footprint.

What will Starbucks’ new cups look like?

Starbucks explained that its strategy for the coming years is built around three pillars: reuse, reduce, and recycle.

The primary goal is for 100% of customer-facing packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by the end of 2030. To achieve this, the company is redesigning both hot beverage cups and cold drink cups, as well as other materials used throughout its coffeehouses.

The company acknowledges that transforming billions of containers is a major challenge due to differences in recycling systems across countries and the limited availability of food-grade recycled materials.

Starbucks wants more customers to use reusable cups

One of the project’s main pillars is reducing reliance on single-use cups.

During fiscal year 2025, Starbucks reported that the use of reusable containers in its coffeehouses increased by 77% compared with the previous year, driven by several initiatives implemented across multiple markets.

Key initiatives include:

• The use of ceramic mugs and glass cups for customers dining inside Starbucks stores.
• Accepting customers’ personal reusable cups at every Starbucks store worldwide and across all North American channels, including drive-thru and mobile orders.
• Pilot programs for returnable cups in more than 20 international markets.
• Providing reusable cups to Starbucks partners (employees) to encourage the habit during their workday.

The company believes expanding reuse is one of the most effective ways to reduce waste generation.

Less plastic in every beverage

In addition to promoting reuse, Starbucks is working to reduce the amount of plastic used in its packaging. The report details several changes that have already been implemented:

• Cold beverage cups used in North America now contain between 10% and 20% less plastic.
• Hot beverage cups in the United States now include 30% post-consumer recycled plastic.
• Recycled plastic (rPET) has been incorporated into cold beverage cups across several markets.
• Traditional plastic straws have been eliminated since 2020.
• New recyclable and compostable fiber-based cups are being tested across Europe.

These changes are part of Starbucks’ commitment to reduce the use of virgin plastic by 5% by 2030, using 2019 as the baseline.

Starbucks also wants its cups to be easier to recycle

The redesign goes beyond the materials used. The company explained that it is also working to make cups easier to recover and recycle after use, wherever appropriate recycling infrastructure exists.

One of the most significant milestones came in February 2026, when Starbucks’ polypropylene cups received the “Widely Recyclable” certification from How2Recycle in the United States, indicating that these containers can be accepted in a broader range of municipal recycling programs.

At the same time, Starbucks announced:

• A $10 million investment in Circular Services, a recycling company.
• The continuation of its partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to advance circular economy solutions.
• New projects aimed at improving material recovery and strengthening recycling infrastructure.

The cup redesign is part of a broader initiative to reduce waste generated by Starbucks’ operations.

According to the report, the company’s waste diversion rate increased from 28% in 2019 to 40% in 2025, while some pilot programs achieved up to 80% waste recovery, preventing waste from ending up in landfills where adequate sorting and processing systems were available.

The company believes that combining improved packaging with stronger recycling infrastructure will be essential to achieving its environmental goals.

The challenge does not depend on Starbucks alone

Although Starbucks continues to innovate in materials and packaging design, it also recognizes that the transition faces challenges it cannot solve on its own. These include:

• Differences in packaging regulations across countries.
• A global shortage of food-grade recycled plastic.
• Uneven recycling infrastructure across cities and markets.
• Consumer participation in reuse and waste separation programs.

For this reason, Starbucks says it will continue collaborating with governments, suppliers, environmental organizations, and industry partners to develop solutions capable of scaling these changes worldwide.

A strategy that goes beyond the cup

The cup redesign is part of a broader transformation of Starbucks’ operations.

In addition to redesigning its packaging, the company is expanding the use of renewable energy across its coffeehouses, certifying thousands of stores under water, energy, and waste efficiency standards, and investing in initiatives to reduce emissions throughout its supply chain.

Through these measures, Starbucks aims to ensure that every cup of coffee has a lower environmental impact while making cup design a key component of its strategy to achieve its 2030 sustainability goals.