Starbucks does not recycle plastic cups it claims are ‘widely recyclable’, report says

Researchers from watchdog group glued trackers to chain’s cups and found not one ended up at a recycling facility

If you attach a GPS tracker to a “widely recyclable” plastic Starbucks cup and drop it in an in-store recycling bin, you might expect it to end up in a recycling plant, but environmental watchdog organization Beyond Plastics says that’s not the case in a new report.

Starbucks announced that their plastic cups were now considered “widely recyclable” earlier this year, according to How2Recycle, a group affiliated with the consumer packaging industry that helps private companies label their packaging with recycling options. The coffee giant touted the achievement as a “big milestone, with huge impact”.