The Explainer: Why Starbucks Cups aren’t Recyclable?

There was a lot of commotion going on regarding Starbucks and the environment. No, not the story where they leave running water going for the entire day to keep their stirring utensils clean (that needs to be explained by Starbucks themselves), it’s the story about how their paper cups are not recyclable.

Starbucks are made from 10% recycled products, but there's a catch.

According to research I have done on the internet Starbucks “goes through a lot of cups—1.9 billion of them.” None of them can be sent to a recycling plant. So, considering how well-known they are regarding their employee benefits, I guess there is not such thing as a “perfect” company to work for. Nonetheless, I am still a Starbucks fan, so let me explain.

The main reason why Starbucks cups (the paper cups) aren’t recyclable is because recycling facilities are unable to recycle cups that have other materials in them. Starbucks paper cups are lined inside the cup so that the hot liquids would not seep through the seams of the cup.

Starbucks boasts that they use cups that are made from 10% recycled paper, however, their cups aren’t at all recyclable because of the ‘plastic’ lining of the cup.

According to Stanford University’s Recycling center, recycling plants can only recycle material that are made of 100% paper or plastics. Once foreign agents enter the product, like oils from the pizza box, it cannot be separated from the paper fibers when it turns into pulp.

Which is why I bring my own cup for all my Starbucks purchases. Not only are you making a statement regarding their paper cup practices, but you get $0.10 off your drink and you only get charged for a Grande size. Talk about a win win win situation!