Starbucks and McDonald’s Unite to Save the Planet

As far as coffee goes, Starbucks and McDonald’s are usually competing for the top spot of quality and convenience. However, the recent war on plastic has forced them to settle their differences. In an effort to rescue the environment, the two multimillion pound companies have announced they will join forces to build a fully recyclable, compostable cup within the next three years.

NextGen Cup Consortium and Challenge

The announcement came on Tuesday, arriving in a world where the food industry is under constant scrutiny over the use of plastic packaging and single-use materials, such as plastic cups and straws. Not only will the new innovative cups be completely degradable, but the lids and straws will be too.

In March this year, Starbucks and Closed Loop began a collaboration to launch the NextGen Consortium and Challenge – an initiative that focuses on creating sustainable cups as well as sustainable lids and straws. McDonald’s have since matched Starbucks’ initial $5million pledge, putting them at the forefront of the initiative for a greener and more environmentally-friendly future.

On estimate, 600 billion cups end up in landfills each year. Together, McDonald’s and Starbucks have taken responsibility for 4% of this amount, as two of the top three popular food chains worldwide. The food giants hope to use their leadership status to begin a greener initiative, of which smaller brands will follow.

“McDonald’s is committed to using our scale for good to make positive changes that impact our planet and the communities we serve,” said Marion Gross, senior vice president and chief supply chain officer at McDonald’s USA.

Colleen Chapman, vice president of global social impact at Starbucks continued by stating: “A better cup will benefit the entire industry and we invite others to join us as we move these efforts forward”.

The War On Plastic

Plastic can take over 400 years to degrade, which means that every piece of plastic ever made is still in existence today. The majority of wasted plastic often ends up in oceans and waterways, which poses extreme threats to wildlife and marine life.

Like Starbucks and McDonald’s, leading organisations are playing their own part in ending plastic pollution for good. Just last week, EVO Group, the UK and Ireland’s leading wholesaler of business products and services, teamed up with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust in a charity beach clean. In just two hours, the team of six scoured the beach for plastic, collecting discarded wrappers, fishing lines, straws and rope.

You can read about the voluntary beach clean here: EVO Group Beach Clean with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

*Photo Credit: Adam Lindsley