Starbucks EMEA has teamed up with Transcend Packaging, Qwarzo and Metsä Board to launch a new hot beverage cup with a lid that is suitable for home composting and can be recycled on a large scale.
The cup was designed and manufactured in Wales and made possible by technology from Italy. The gradual roll-out will begin this month in selected European markets, offering all customers who do not have a reusable cup a compostable and recyclable alternative, according to the statement.
Thanks to extensive research and development work and pioneering innovations in the manufacturing process, the plastic coating on the inside of the cup has been replaced by a mineral coating made of silica. In addition, the disposable plastic lid has been replaced by an alternative made of cellulose, which also has a mineral coating.
Step-by-step introduction
The familiar Starbucks design is retained, but the hot beverage cup is now certified for home composting and can be recycled.
The cup is the result of a Europe-wide collaboration: it consists of traceable wood fibres from northern European forests and a mineral coating developed in Brescia, Italy; the cup was designed and created at Transcend in the Welsh town of Ystrad Mynach.
The new hot beverage cup and lid will be gradually introduced in coffee houses in selected European markets this year. It will be launched this month in the first 10 countries, including Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, Austria and Switzerland, as well as in Spain and Hungary, where it is already available, before being introduced in the UK and Ireland later in the year.
Source: Starbucks
