Starbucks EMEA has adapted its iconic coffee cup so that it is easier to recycle and compostable at home. To achieve this, the company assembled a team of experts with deep processing experience, patented coating expertise, and proven packaging material know-how. Metsä Board is part of this high-calibre international project.
Starbucks EMEA has called it „the most exciting iteration yet“ of the company’s iconic white cup. Launched across Europe in May 2025, the cup is truly innovative, with the plastic lining of the cup replaced by a mineral-based coating, and single-use plastic lids swapped out for fibre-based alternatives. But what kind of R&D effort went into making the new and improved cup?
This presented EMEA with no easy challenge. Traditionally, single-use cups for hot and cold drinks are made from a plastic-paper mix, which is almost universally used in the industry and difficult to replace. Local requirements and waste infrastructure also vary greatly from location to location, making it difficult for a global company like Starbucks to introduce and scale a single-cup solution across countries.
Using the processor Transcend Packaging, Starbucks set out to develop a hot beverage cup that completely removed the plastic lining. The ultimate goal was to replace the plastic lining with a more environmentally friendly alternative without compromising the customer experience. The innovative mineral-based coating was produced by coating expert Qwarzo, whose advanced patented coating technology proved to be crucial to the undertaking. This essentially meant that Qwarzo's technology is applied to the inner layer of the new cup, as well as the outer layer of the fibre lid, to create a waterproof barrier that is certified to meet many local legislative requirements for home compostability and recyclability.
Focus on the material
And what primary material is used? After all, the successful concept still required a paperboard quality that offers additional performance to make everything work. According to Matt Boyle, Sales Director, Food & Retail Europe at Metsä Board, they acted very quickly when they learned that Starbucks was looking for an innovative paperboard solution.
„Moving away from plastic was something that required a strong team effort. And we were ready to make a significant contribution,“ highlights Boyle, who was responsible for leading the Metsä Board section after the project began in 2022. The research and development experts at Metsä Board's Excellence Centre in Äänekoski, Finland, were very happy to offer their assistance.
„Our experts quickly stepped in, supported the project, and made a significant contribution to its success,“ explains Hélène Lehtinen, Vice President R&D at Metsä Board. From analysis to troubleshooting, the Äänekoski Excellence Centre brought its extensive resources to accelerate the project. „We quickly realised that we could achieve something great by working closely together,“ she recalls.
The tension was palpable
For three years, the teams at Starbucks, Transcend Packaging, Qwarzo, and Metsä Board designed dozens of prototypes, putting them through thousands of hours of testing. Boyle admits there was a certain amount of nervousness in the air too: with the introduction of the new cup, new sustainability claims would be made, which needed to be watertight. „For all of this to work, we collaborated very openly and constantly challenged each other to achieve the best possible outcome.“
The development and commissioning of new manufacturing capacity to increase production became one of the most important priorities when the focus turned to Metsä Board’s mill in Husum, Sweden. „Husum had the know-how to produce the board for the new cup,“ says Lehtinen, explaining that Metsä Board already had a suitable board that was both compostable and recyclable. „The material was almost perfect for the project from the start, requiring very few changes to the product specification,“ she explains.
To meet regulatory standards
The cardboard is made from traceable wood fibres from Nordic forests and has been certified as home-compostable by the German certification organisation DIN CERTCO. The material is also certified by PEFC (PEFC/02-31-92) and/or FSC (FSC C0o1580) for forest origin. According to Lehtinen, participating in the project was a formative experience for the research and development team at Äänekoski, which currently consists of 15 professionals.
„We could really leverage our experience by analysing test results, giving recommendations and communicating with the project members at every step,“ says Lehtinen. Boyle adds that trying to meet all the regulatory standards was, of course, a battle that had to be won. Handling the supply chain’s requirements and expectations was another big hurdle: „With a large-scale project involving multiple partners like this, there are always ‚projects within the project‘ that all need to be executed perfectly.“
„The new Starbucks cup in Europe offers a largely recyclable alternative for customers who don't have a reusable cup,“ emphasises Duncan Moir, President of Starbucks EMEA, highlighting how proud he is of his team who worked on developing this innovative solution.
Set the tone
Although Metsä Board works permanently with international top brands, the Starbucks coffee cup is one of the rare cases where you can genuinely speak of „legendary“. The professionalism and environmental awareness of Starbucks and its partners have made an impression: „Starbucks takes sustainability seriously,“ emphasises Lehtinen.
The new hot beverage cup comes in the familiar Starbucks design, loved by consumers worldwide, but the end result is now largely recyclable and certified home compostable in most countries. „The cup is an example of what can be achieved when resources are pooled under a shared vision and everyone is committed to open collaboration,“ summarises Lehtinen. The fact that Metsä Board's sustainability team works directly with its counterpart at Starbucks has led to significant synergy effects. „Without technological openness, the whole project would never have come about,“ Boyle agrees, noting that Starbucks has clearly embraced its role as a pioneer and paved the way for a more environmentally friendly coffee cup – a step that other industry players will most likely follow.
Teamwork Europe
The production of the new cup was a pan-European effort: it was made from traceable wood fibres from Nordic forests with a mineral-based coating developed in Brescia, Italy. The cup was designed and manufactured at Transcend Packaging’s plant in Wales. From spring 2025, the new hot drinks cup and lid will be phased in across selected European markets. The first countries to receive them included Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Spain and Hungary.
