Starbucks is set to eliminate paper cups by 2025. The coffee giant plans to let customers use their own personal mugs in the United States and Canada by the end of 2022. The goal, for now, is not to completely get rid of the disposable cups, but to make that option less attractive to customers. “Our cup is ubiquitous, and we love that,” said Michael Kobori, Starbucks chief sustainability officer. “But it is also this ubiquitous symbol of a throwaway society.” Starbucks also plans to test a borrow-a-cup program, in which customers pay a deposit for a durable cup that they take with them and drop back off after use.

The product experience team at Starbucks also developed a new sustainable cup that is lightweight polypropylene, recyclable, and could replace 100 single-use disposable cups. The cup was put to the test in a Starbucks store in Seattle where customers paid a $1 deposit and had to return the cup to a smart bin located in the store to get their dollar back. They also earned rewards for using the cup. According to Kim Davis, the store’s manager, customers were curious about the bin, and once baristas explained it to them, many were willing to try the initiative. But that model is still in its testing phase, so the company wants to explore and introduce other ways of reusing mugs. “The team is trying different things, over and over again, to figure out what might work,” said Amelia Landers, vice president of product experience at Starbucks.