Starbucks to Eliminate Disposable Cups at 12 Stores in Seoul... Expansion Nationwide by 2025

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Following the Jeju region, disposable cups are gradually disappearing from Starbucks stores in Seoul.

Starbucks Coffee Korea will begin a pilot operation of stores without disposable cups in the Seoul area starting from the 6th, following the Jeju region.

The stores without disposable cups are part of Starbucks' mid-to-long-term sustainability strategy announced last April called the 'Better Together' strategy, aimed at achieving a 0% disposable cup usage rate and reducing carbon emissions.

Since starting the pilot operation of stores without disposable cups in four stores in the Jeju region last July, Starbucks has reduced about 200,000 disposable cups in three months. This time, the pilot operation area is expanding to Seoul, and Starbucks will continue its eco-friendly project in cooperation with six public and private organizations including Seoul Metropolitan Government, SKT, and Happy Connect.

The pilot stores without disposable cups in Seoul will operate in 12 stores near Seoul City Hall, and store information can be checked through the Starbucks app and the Happy Habit app. All beverages sold at stores without disposable cups will be served in short, tall, and grande sizes using store mugs, personal cups, and reusable cups.

When using reusable cups, a deposit (1,000 KRW) is charged, which can be refunded via Starbucks card balance, points within the Happy Habit application, or cash upon returning the reusable cup. Reusable cups can be returned through return machines installed at 14 locations within Seoul, including stores without disposable cups.

The collected reusable cups are safely and thoroughly cleaned through seven steps at a specialized cleaning institution: ▲inspection of external condition ▲pre-washing ▲disinfection soaking ▲high-pressure automatic washing ▲removal of moisture and natural drying ▲UV sterilization drying. After cleaning, the surface contamination of sample packaged products is measured and final contamination is checked to maintain cleanliness for safe reuse.

Starbucks plans to additionally introduce Venti-sized reusable cups in the Jeju region within this year and start converting all stores in Jeju Island to stores without disposable cups, continuously improving areas that need enhancement. By next year, all stores in Seoul will be converted, and by 2025, all stores nationwide will become stores without disposable cups, completely stopping the use of disposable cups in stores.

The expected reduction in disposable cups through the 12 stores without disposable cups in Seoul this year is about 500,000 cups. If the use of reusable cups expands to all stores in Seoul and Jeju in the future, it is expected that more than 100 million disposable cups will be reduced annually.

Ha Ik-sung, Starbucks Planning Manager, stated, “Following Jeju, we are listening carefully to various customer voices to ensure that stores without disposable cups operate well in Seoul, and we are continuously developing various campaigns and programs. We will continue to find improvements and make efforts to increase customer awareness of using personal and reusable cups to increase the reduction of disposable cup usage.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.