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Public, Private Sector Unveil Strategies to Eliminate To-Go Beverage Waste

Single-serve beverage waste is on the fast-track to obsolescence as startups, multinationals and local governments unveil strategies to keep cups, straws and plastic bottles out of landfill.

By Sustainable Brands | Published 6 years ago | About a 4 minute read

Single-serve beverage waste is on the fast-track to obsolescence as startups, multinationals and local governments unveil strategies to keep cups, straws and plastic bottles out of landfill.

Disposable coffee cups create a considerable amount of waste each year, but formulating beverage containers with compostable or recyclable materials isn’t the only way to keep them from entering into landfill. The German city of Freiburg, for example, has developed a convenient and sustainable solution that doesn’t require consumers to constantly keep a reusable mug on hand.

Though only a year old, the program has already been deemed a success and other cities in Germany have expressed interest in implementing the program, as well.

Meanwhile, startup Loliware — which in 2015 made waves with its "biodegredible" (biodegradable + edible) cups — is expanding its line of colorful drinkware to include a 100 percent plastic-free, hyper-compostable, marine-degradable, seaweed-based straw.

Be Straw Free estimates that half-a-billion straws are used in the US every day, yet they are rarely, if ever, recycled. Anti-straw campaigns are on the rise and a number of museums, aquariums, amusement parks and restaurants around the country have already rolled out bans or policies to eliminate the use of straws.

Loliware’s new patent-pending product offers a viable solution to reducing plastic straw waste because of its compostable nature, while allowing businesses to continue catering to consumer demand for straws.

Loliware is aiming to raise $30,000 in funding to launch the new product. So far, the startup has raised just over $12,000. The Kickstarter campaign runs until January 10, 2018.

Meanwhile, on the corporate front — in a recent interview with edie.net, Simon Redfern, VP of Corporate Affairs for Starbucks, shared how the coffee giant is expanding its efforts to tackle beverage container waste.

In addition to rolling out its own £1 reusable cup and offering a discount on drinks for customers who bring their own mugs, Starbucks has been collaborating with industry competitors to improve recycling infrastructure. In October, it was one of 14 companies to enter into an agreement with the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE), which will see ACE UK recycling banks in 97 local authorities across the UK begin accepting paper cups for recycling. Starbucks is also working with the Paper Cup Recovery and Recycling Group Paper Cups Manifesto to create even more opportunities for the collection and recycling of paper cups.

According to Redfern, coffee cups aren’t the only problem. Next steps for the company include finding solutions for plastic water bottles, one of which include partnering with Refill, an app that lets the public know where they can refill their reusable water bottles for free. The app is currently active in Bristol, but the company hopes to add all of its locations to Refill by early 2018.

“These are really easy wins for us where we can make a big material difference to the amount of plastic that people are using,” Redfern told edie. “Ultimately, we believe in providing choice for customers and the way they consume their beverage.”