10. Mar 2020
Starbucks trialling new prototype BioPBS cup
Founded by Starbucks and McDonalds, the NextGen Consortium is a multi-year, global consortium that aims to address the global issue of single-use food packaging waste by advancing the design, commercialization, and recovery of food packaging alternatives.
NextGen Cup is the first initiative by the NextGen Consortium, which aims to advance recoverable solutions for the fibre, hot and cold, to-go cup system. To that end, the consortium launched the NextGen Cup Challenge in 2018, an open, global design competition, that received nearly 500 submissions. Rigorous winnowing by the jury narrowed these down to 12 winners.
Starbucks is now putting one of the twelve winners of the NextGen Cup Challenge to the test. The BioPBS cup, submitted by Thailand-based PTT MCC Biochem Company Limited Thailand, will be in circulation in select stores in Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, New York and London from 9 March 2019.
The cup, which is being tested in the stores for a limited time, features an innovative cup liner, made from the bioplastic bio-PBS, which makes the cup certified compostable and recyclable.
The tests are designed to provide key insights and learnings into the partner and customer in-store experience with the goal of no noticeable differences in performance between the new cup and current cup.
The testing does not end there. Starbucks is currently working with Closed Loop Partners, the Consortium and other businesses on continuing to test and validate the recyclability of the various challenge winners, including the BioPBS cup. The company is also continuing the work with key stakeholders in the recycling industry to advocate for increasing the overall recyclability of cups and ensure they are ultimately accepted within municipalities.
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