In 2023, Starbucks did its largest reuse test with TURN

In 2023, TURN implemented a reuse pilot with Starbucks.

Starbucks offered customers reusable cups to go. When returned to a smart bin, they’re cleaned and used again.

Below is a reprint from the Fast Company article on the launch.

BY ADELE PETERS

If you walk into a Starbucks in Napa, California, this week, you won’t get your coffee in a paper cup. The store is one of twelve in Napa and the nearby city of Petaluma to begin testing a new reusable model — including an option to take a free, reusable to-go cup home from the store and then drop it off the next time you get coffee.

“Our big vision for the future is, what if every Starbucks beverage is served in a reusable cup?” says Amy Wang, director for global reusables strategy at Starbucks.

The “Borrow A Cup” pilot, which will last for 10 weeks, is one early step in figuring out how that can happen, and one in a series of tests that the company has been running over the last few years as it works toward a larger goal to cut waste in half by the end of the decade. Right now, the company uses around 6 billion disposable cups a year worldwide. More reusable tests will launch around the world in the coming months.