GS25 Launches Straw-Free Ice Cups... "Saving 60 Tons of Plastic Annually"

Scheduled for Nationwide Expansion Within the Year

Ice cup without the need for a straw, released by GS25. (Photo by GS Retail)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] GS25 announced on the 15th that it has launched an ice cup that does not require a straw and plans to reduce the use of straws by up to 100 million annually.

Starting from the third week of this month, GS25 will supply the newly developed ice cups beginning in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, and Chungcheongbuk-do, and plans to expand nationwide within the year. The ice cup launched this time is the result of over a year of effort by GS25 and its partners to practice ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management. Although lids that do not require straws are already used in several cafes, convenience store ice cups, which must be sold with the lid attached after filling with ice, required various adjustments in the manufacturing process to prevent beverage leakage. In cafes, lids are closed by hand, but for ice cups, lids are sealed by machines, so fine adjustments were necessary due to changes in the lid’s shape.

During May and June, GS25 supplied the straw-free ice cups at stores in the Gangnam area to check store operations and customer usability. They verified whether beverages leaked during use and if there were any issues when displaying the ice cups in dedicated freezers. Approximately 50,000 ice cups were sold during this pilot quality check.

GS25 expects that the new ice cups could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 300 tons annually. The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) estimates that about 5 tons of greenhouse gases are emitted per ton of plastic. Since one plastic straw weighs 0.6g, reducing the use of approximately 100 million plastic straws annually would result in a reduction of 60 tons of plastic.

A GS25 official said, “We believe that ESG management pursued by GS25 is about enabling customers to participate in environmental protection without any special effort.”

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