Global Commitment 2021 Signatory Report

Starbucks is the leading roaster and retailer of premium high quality arabica coffee with over 30, 000 retail stores in 80 markets, offering a range of exceptional products (coffee, handcrafted beverages, merchandise, fresh food, packaged whole bean and ground coffee and ready-to-drink beverages).

Africa: Northern Africa, Southern Africa

America: Caribbean, Central America, Northern America, South America

Asia: Eastern Asia, Central Asia, South-eastern Asia, Southern Asia, Western Asia

Europe: Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe

Oceania: Australia and New Zealand

Reusables, light weighting redesign, incorporate recycled content, and eliminate unnecessary plastic packaging

In July 2018, Starbucks announced it would phase out fossil fuel derived plastic straws from more than 30, 000 stores worldwide by 2020. In 2019, Starbucks continued the expansion of lightweight strawless lids for cold beverages, as well as rollout of alternative material straws. Regulatory and manufacturing challenges in light of COVID-19 threatened the ability to fully roll out a new sustainable material straw in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2020, with a new anticipated goal date of 2021. In FY20, we completed the rollout of strawless lids across the U.S. and Canada, which we modeled after our hot drink lid and has approximately 9% less plastic than the flat lid and straw historically used for iced beverages. Starbucks will continue to provide straws to customers who need or request them in our stores.

In our effort to eliminate one billion plastic straws a year, we are eliminating fossil fuel derived plastic straws by the end of 2021. Starbucks has a plastic reduction project underway to lightweight its cold cup and a second phase of the project to incorporate recycled content into the new cold cup. Starbucks is continuing R&D efforts to find alternative materials for difficult-to-recover plastics in items such as our plastic stoppers and the plastic liner of our hot coffee cup.

Recent or in-progress pilots of reuse models for new products or packaging, Reuse models in place for consumer facing products or packaging

Product line(s) with reuse model(s): 1 (25% of total) (see endonotes for more information)

Market(s) where reuse models are available today: Northern Africa, Southern Africa, Caribbean, Central America, Northern America, South America, Eastern Asia, Central Asia, South-eastern Asia, Southern Asia, Western Asia, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand (100% of total)

COVID-19 safety measures challenged our ability to allow customers and partners to use personal cups and “for here” ware in our stores, and we paused on those initiatives while using FY20 to conduct consumer and market research to better understand how best to incentivize the use of reusables. In FY20, 1.3% of beverages sold were in reusable cups, either a customer’s personal cup or “for here” ware, in company-operated stores in Canada, EMEA, Japan and the U.S. Meanwhile, we tested single-use cup fees in UK and Germany. In August 2020, Within the U.K., Starbucks EMEA is one of the first large scale coffee houses to bring back the use of personal cups with a completely contactless process to address health and safety concerns of the transmission of the COVID-19 virus. COVID-19 safety measures challenged our ability to allow customers and partners to use personal cups and “for here” ware in our stores, and we paused on those initiatives while using FY20 to conduct consumer and market research to better understand how best to incentivize the use of reusables. In FY20, 1.3% of beverages sold were in reusable cups, either a customer’s personal cup or “for here” ware, in company-operated stores in Canada, EMEA, Japan and the U.S. Meanwhile, we tested single-use cup fees in UK and Germany. In August 2020, Within the U.K., Starbucks EMEA is one of the first large scale coffee houses to bring back the use of personal cups with a completely contactless process to address health and safety concerns of the transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

Piloting reuse models for new products or packaging: 25 pilots

Introducing or expanding reuse models for non-consumer facing packaging

Introducing or expanding reuse models for consumer facing products/packaging

Implementing reuse models across a minimum number of retail stores: 30000 retail stores (100% of total)

Delivering a target percentage of units sold via reuse models

See endnotes for more information on the above target(s)

In June 2021, Starbucks announced that it will introduce a unique reusable Cup-Share program in all 3,840 stores in Europe, Middle East, and Africa by 2025. In April 2021, Starbucks announced that we plan to fully discontinue single-use cups in all stores across South Korea by 2025 and the company will gradually introduce cup share programs across the market to encourage reusability. In the U.S., in spring 2021, building on learnings from single-store tests earlier in FY21, Starbucks is scaling its Borrow A Cup program to five stores in Seattle. The program provides customers the option to receive their beverage in a reusable cup and return it at a participating store’s contactless kiosk or at-home through a Seattle-area service called Ridwell. The challenge is how to make choosing reusables as convenient as you expect from Starbucks – no extra steps – especially with 80% of Starbucks beverages being enjoyed on the go.

In partnership with Closed Loop Partners and the NextGen Consortium, we worked in FY20 toward our goal to develop 100% compostable and recyclable hot cups. In FY20, five new markets joined the list of major markets where Starbucks hot cups are recyclable: Kent County, MI.; Lansing, MI.; Sioux Falls, SD; St. Lucie County, FL; and Athens County, GA. They join 13 other major markets. In FY20 we completed the rollout of strawless lids across the U.S. and Canada, which we modelled after our hot drink lid and has approximately 9% less plastic than the flat lid and straw historically used for iced beverages. Unlike traditional plastic straws, the strawless lids can be recycled in many markets in the U.S. and Canada. In partnership with Closed Loop Partners and the NextGen Consortium, we worked in FY20 toward our goal to develop 100% compostable and recyclable hot cups. In FY20, five new markets joined the list of major markets where Starbucks hot cups are recyclable: Kent County, MI.; Lansing, MI.; Sioux Falls, SD; St. Lucie County, FL; and Athens County, GA. They join 13 other major markets. In FY20 we completed the rollout of strawless lids across the U.S. and Canada, which we modelled after our hot drink lid and has approximately 9% less plastic than the flat lid and straw historically used for iced beverages. Unlike traditional plastic straws, the strawless lids can be recycled in many markets in the U.S. and Canada.

As part of our sustainability commitment, Starbucks is focusing on ways to better manage its waste, both in Starbucks stores and in the communities it serves by ensuring more reuse and recycling. Starbucks joined The Recycling Partnership, Closed Loop Partners, and WWF collective efforts to improve the circular economy of plastic packaging. Starbucks is working with Closed Loop Partners, the NextGen Consortium and other businesses on continuing to test and validate the recyclability of the various NextGen Challenge Cup winners, including the BioPBS™ cup. We signed the U.S. Plastics Pact as a call to action for a better waste infrastructure. In 2020, NextGen Consortium joined the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition. As part of our sustainability commitment, Starbucks is focusing on ways to better manage its waste, both in Starbucks stores and in the communities it serves by ensuring more reuse and recycling. Starbucks joined The Recycling Partnership, Closed Loop Partners, and WWF collective efforts to improve the circular economy of plastic packaging. Starbucks is working with Closed Loop Partners, the NextGen Consortium and other businesses on continuing to test and validate the recyclability of the various NextGen Challenge Cup winners, including the BioPBS™ cup. We signed the U.S. Plastics Pact as a call to action for a better waste infrastructure. In 2020, NextGen Consortium joined the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition.

Yes

100% reusable, recyclable or compostable

We are recommitting to the Next Gen Consortium, which we were a founding member of in 2018, with a new investment in their work. The consortium's work is going beyond hot cup liner innovation to include polypropylene recycling access for consumers, generation of recycled polypropylene, and reusable packaging systems. We are also undertaking efforts to identify recycle ready solutions for flexible films, and to certify non-certified materials for compostability.

As part of its sustainability commitment, the company is focusing on ways to better manage its waste, both in Starbucks stores and in the communities it serves by ensuring more reuse and recycling. Starbucks joined The Recycling Partnership, Closed Loop Partners, and WWF collective efforts to improve the circular economy of plastic packaging. We also signed the U.S. Plastics Pact as a call to action for a better waste infrastructure.

The plastic packaging in salad bowls in the U.S. was updated to incorporate 25% PCR (post-consumer resin). We also launched a new Ethos water bottle that contains 20% PCR (post-consumer resin).

Starbucks is continuing R&D efforts to find alternative materials for difficult-to-recover plastics, reduce plastic usage through lightweighting, and incorporate recycled plastic into our packaging. In FY21, Starbucks announced all Starbucks stores in Indonesia will gradually transition to cold cups made with rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate). Incorporating recycled material into the supply chain will eliminate the equivalent of over 200,000 kilograms of virgin plastic per year across over 460 stores in Indonesia, reaffirming the company’s commitment to contribute to Starbucks global aspiration to be a resource-positive company. Starbucks will become the first major food and beverage retailer in Indonesia to switch completely to rPET. Starbucks also plans to launch our Ethos water bottle with 100 percent PCR (post-consumer resin).

Data represents packaging from direct operations and licensed stores and excludes Starbucks branded packaging not sold in our stores, except Evolution Fresh. Starbucks branded products sold outside of our stores is part of a licenced model of the Global Coffee Alliance with Nestlé, while our global ready-to-drink businesses operate under collaborative relationships with PepsiCo and others. The Starbucks branded packaging used by CPG partners are part of their commitments and reporting.

Total plastic packaging decreased by 8.8% between FY19 and FY20. This level of annual reduction at this stage in our journey toward our 2025 targets was not anticipated and is due primarily to reduced business activity in FY20 as a result of COVID-19; it is not likely to be typical going forward. The results are also due, in part, to improvement of data availability and quality as we improve our environmental impact measurement process.

For product line(s) with available reuse model(s): Retail store product lines are categorized handcrafted beverages, ready-to-drink beverage, prepared food, ready-to-eat food.

We are currently assessing an appropriate target.