- Waste & Recycling -
Starbucks is becoming more aggressive on the recycling front. This fall the coffee giant will begin sending used paper cups from its Chicago stores to Green Bay, Wis., where a Georgia Pacific mill will convert the cups into
Starbucks napkins.
Whole Latte Recycling: Starbucks is becoming more aggressive on the recycling front. This fall the coffee giant will begin sending used paper cups from its Chicago stores to Green Bay, Wis., where a Georgia Pacific mill will convert the cups into Starbucks napkins.
In addition, Starbucks has in recent weeks started placing recycling and compost bins at its Seattle stores to comply with a new city law. The new Seattle ordinance mandates that grocers, restaurants and coffee shops recycle and compost their waste and that they provide recyclable or compostable packaging for their carryout products.
Starbucks also currently recycles or composts its waste in San Francisco and Ontario in compliance with local laws in those jurisdictions.
Whisking Trash Underground: We haven’t seen the magazine on newsstands yet, but the Washington Post reports that the July issue of Wired includes a story about a futuristic subterranean garbage system slated to open in Montreal in 2012 in which “a network of pipes whisks away trash, sorting out recycling and compost along the way ... starting with garbage intake hatches and traveling through chutes and underground tubes where large fans create 45-mph winds to push refuse to a central collection facility.”
Actually, “futuristic” may not be the most accurate description, since the Washington Post notes that similar systems are already in place in parts of London, Stockholm and Barcelona.