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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Waste Reduction

Initiative Backed by Starbucks, McDonald’s Begins Testing Waste-Free Cups in the Bay Area

As a planet we produce the astounding 264 billion paper cups per year. Some of them are recyclable, some aren’t — but no matter their label, the vast majority end up in landfills because of an inner plastic inner lining which make the cups tricky to actually recycle.

That overwhelming amounts of coffee cup waste is the target of the NextGen Cup Challenge, a global competition to create a scalable zero waste cup solution. It’s the first project from the NextGen Consortium, an initiative aimed at reducing food packaging waste that’s managed by Closed Loop Partners as well as big-name food corporations like Starbucks, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Nestlé and others (h/t Nation’s Restaurant News).

The 12 winners of the NextGen Cup Challenge were selected last year, and this week they’re beginning to roll out their cup solutions in participating cafés in the Bay Area. In San Francisco and Paolo Alto, coffee shops will be testing out reusable cups tricked out with chips and tracking codes. Once they’re done with their drink, customers can return their smart cup to any participating café or other designated drop off points. After that, NextGen will collect and sanitize the cups, then re-send them back out into circulation. San Francisco shops will use cups designed by Indonesia-based returnable packing service Muuse, and those in Paolo Alto will feature cups made by British startup CupClub.

In March, cafés in Oakland will start piloting their own waste-free cup solution. Instead of reusable cups, participating cafés will use fully recyclable single-use cups — that is, cups that don’t have pesky plastic liners, which sometimes make other “recyclable” cups difficult to actually, well, recycle.

Even though big chains aren’t using sustainable cups yet, this a still big step for the NextGen Cup Challenge. Launching in small, local cafés is an important proof of concept, as well as an opportunity to see which type of waste-free cup is the easiest to implement and most popular with consumers. The end goal is to roll out the most successful solution on a large scale — to national chains like McDonald’s and Starbucks.

NextGen Cup Challenge isn’t the only group out there fighting coffee cup waste. Elsewhere in the Bay Area, Nestle-owned chain Blue Bottle is also testing a zero-single-use-cup program (featuring reusable cups) as part of their initiative to go waste-free by the end of this year.

Back in January, my colleague Jenn Marston predicted that 2020 could well be the year of the waste-free coffee shop. With NextGen Cup Challenge, a project backed by industry giants, finally starting to take off, there’s a chance that might actually happen.

Kickstarter: Koup is a Shirt Infused With Cinnamon

I’m currently on a diet and one of the things I miss most is cinnamon rolls. Between the smell and the sticky sweetness, they are the perfect morning treat (that is so not perfect for you).

While I may not be able to eat my cinnamon fix any longer, a project on Kickstarter will let me wear shirts made from my favorite spice. Koup has raised nearly $70,000 on the crowdfunding platform to make shirts partially out of recycled polyester and infused with . . . cinnamon.

The Koup campaign page claims that cinnamon is anti-microbial and anti-odor while being 100 percent natural. They do not say whether or not your sweat will smell like a food court Cinnabon — which, I would 100 percent endorse.

Whether or not the cinnamon really is a wonder ingredient when it comes to keeping your clothes fresh, the shirts are also partially made from recycled plastic bottles and people who purchase them are encouraged to send the shirts back to Koup so they can be recycled into new yarn.

All this cinnamon-y, eco goodness doesn’t come cheap. To get one Koup T-shirt, you need to pledge $36 plus shipping. Which, in the grand scheme of things isn’t that ridiculous for a shirt anymore.

Koup’s campaign comes at a moment when the world is reflecting on and taking action against our growing plastic waste problem. So kudos to them for considering this issue and adding a little, err, spice to it.

The company is using a Taiwanese manufacturer, so perhaps it can sidestep some of the impacts the deadly Coronavirus is having on other Kickstarter projects manufacturing in mainland China.

Researchers Upcycle McDonald’s Waste Oil into 3D Printing Resin

We know that french fries aren’t good for you, but perhaps some good may come from our addiction to them. Researchers at the University of Toronto Scarborough recently showed that they could turn waste oil from McDonald’s deep fryers into a high-resolution, biodegradable 3D printing resin (h/t Plastics News).

Professor Andre Simpson led the research after realizing that the molecules in commercial resins were similar to the fats in cooking Oils. Last month, the University of Toronto Scarborough explained the research, writing:

Simpson and his team used a straightforward one-step chemical process in the lab, using about one litre of used cooking oil to make 420ml of resin. The resin was able to print a plastic butterfly that showed features down to 100 micrometres, and was structurally and thermally stable, meaning it wouldn’t crumble or melt above room temperature.

While the research is still early, Simpson points out how this technology could help on a couple of different environmentally friendly fronts. It helps find a use for waste oil, which can cause sewage backups and be expensive for restaurants to dispose of. Current 3D printing plastic resin uses fossil fuel oils and is difficult to make. Because the McResin is made from recyclable materials, it could be much cheaper than the current plastic version.

This McResin is also easily biodegradable because it’s basically just fats. Though Simpson doesn’t point to this specifically, perhaps this resin could create single-use cutlery or takeout packaging. There are obviously thermal issues to be worked out, but we are just at the beginning of this particular slice of 3D printing McResearch, and it will undoubtedly improve as more resources are poured into it.

Simpsons research joins a host of other startups tackling our plastic waste problem. Startups are developing ways to break our addiction to traditional plastic by developing edible cutlery, banana leaf packaging, or creating new types of compostable plastic-like packaging.

What’s cool about this resin is how it uses our addiction to greasy food to potentially help combat our addiction to single-use plastic. So maybe you can feel a little less guilty about ordering that side of fries next time.

This Alternative Sweetener Is Made From Upcycled Apples and Pears

Overconsumption of sugar is responsible for illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers, a problem that’s hard to avoid because American food is full of the stuff. Many people and companies lean on alternatives to avoid sugar, but while research has proven that consumption of aspartame, sucralose and others is safe, many people have concerns about them. Stevia is another sugar alternative that’s made from leaves, but its odd aftertaste disqualifies it for use in many products.

This conundrum in the multi-billion-dollar sweetener industry presents an opportunity for Fooditive, which hopes to provide another option that is not only natural, but also reduces food waste. The Netherlands-based startup’s sweetener is made through a fermentation process that extracts fructose from apples and pears sourced from Dutch farmers that have brown spots or off colors and can’t be sold in stores, Fast Company reports. The company, founded by food scientist Moayad Abushokhedim, has also developed carrot waste into a preserving agent for soups, sauces and bakery items, as well as thickening agents made from banana skins and emulsifiers from potato extracts.

The company is following a B2B model and will distribute the sweetener to food and beverage companies across the Netherlands. There’s no word on when it will go on sale to the general public, although the company’s website says online ordering will be coming soon. Fooditive said it has plans to expand to Sweden, the U.K. and Abushokhedim’s native Jordan. 

While Fooditive’s sweetener is novel, using food and food scraps that would otherwise be discarded is part of a growing trend of so-called upcycled foods. Other companies with this model include Barnana, which turns misshapen and over ripened bananas into snacks, ReGrained, a maker of bars made from spent grain leftover from brewing beer, and Sir Kensington, a vegan mayo maker that uses chickpea liquid.

Aside from introducing alternatives, companies are also introducing ways to “improve” sugar so we don’t need to consume too much of it. There’s DouxMatok, which aims to make the sugar we already consume hit our tongues more efficiently, and Nutrition Innovation, a technology company using near-infrared scanning to better refine sugar.

Startups are approaching the issue of humanity’s dangerous sugar addiction from multiple angles, so thankfully there are plenty of sweet solutions emerging.

Winners of the Next Packaging Movement by Perrier Announced

Sparkling water company Perrier today announced the winning projects of its The Next Packaging Movement at the ChangeNOW summit in Paris, France.

Announced last April, The Next Packaging Movement put out a call for startups and innovators that are creating packaging that isn’t just 100 percent recyclable, but also re-examine packaging entirely from source to end of life. Perrier received roughly 90 submissions and the company partnered with SoScience, European organization focused on responsible research and innovation.

The projects selected by Perrier were:

Biotic, an Africa-based startup that works with biodegradable plastic made from agricultural waste while creating jobs for African women.

Flexikeg, which delivers beverages in re-usable flexible kegs and already has a collaboration with Perrier.

Plastiskul, which creates micro factories for waste collection and transformation in developing countries.

The winners will each receive technical and operational support from Perrier as well as a minimum of €100,000 (~$110,000 USD), and up to a million Euros in total. Each project will also aim to bring their solution to market by 2025.

Of the winners, it looks like only Flexikeg currently has a website up, and it’s entirely in French. But from the looks of it, the flexible keg seems to be following a trend we’re seeing around of bags being employed to ship and store liquids. Bags are lighter and lay flat for easier shipping. The Albicchiere and Edgar connected wine dispensers both use bags of wine for refills, and the Olivery sends olive oil refills in pouches.

Perrier, of course, is contributing to the world’s big plastic packaging problem, but at least this is a small step in helping fix that.

Starbucks Pledges to Cut Carbon Emissions, Water Usage and Landfill Waste by Half by 2030

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson announced in a letter Tuesday that the company aspires to become resource positive within the next decade. 

To meet that aspiration, Johnson set three goals for Starbucks: reducing carbon emissions from its direct operations and supply chain by half; replenishing half of its water usage with a focus on “communities and basins with high water risk;” and a 50 percent reduction in its waste sent to landfills from its stores and manufacturing facilities. As part of that last goal, Johnson announced it is joining the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment.

Starbucks has a lot of work ahead. The company, according to its own estimates, is responsible for 1 percent of all paper and plastic cups in the world, or 6 billion cups. It currently operates more than 28,000 stores across the world. 

As part of the pledge, Starbucks announced “five environmental strategies that will begin to move us toward a resource-positive future”: expanding plant-based options; shifting from single-use to reusable packaging; investing in “innovative and regenerative agricultural practices, reforestation, forest conservation and water replenishment” in its supply chain; investing in better ways to manage its waste; and developing innovations for more eco-friendly stores, operations, manufacturing and delivery.

“We agree with the consensus of scientific experts who note that without drastic action from everyone — governments, companies and all of us as individuals — adapting to the impact of climate change in the future will be far more difficult and costly,” Johnson wrote, “taking a toll on our supply chains, our business, and more importantly, the lives of everyone involved, including coffee farmers, our suppliers, Starbucks partners, customers and every community we serve.”

Johnson wrote that the company doesn’t have all the answers, and called on parties including entrepreneurs and its partners and customers to provide innovations and ideas.

Starbucks is among one of the biggest restaurant companies by revenue, and one of the largest to pledge to reduce its contributions to global warming causing emissions and pollution. McDonald’s and Taco Bell have also set ambitious sustainability goals. Drastic change is needed if we’re going to stem the worst effects of climate change, and business leaders’ commitment to the cause is both necessary and welcome, especially as world leaders continue to be dismissive of the threat life on the planet faces.

Rockstart Closes €3M in Fresh Funding for Its First Agtech Cohort

Copenhagen, Denmark-based startup accelerator Rockstart announced this week it has closed a €3 million (~ $3,332,000 USD) funding round to support Rockstart AgriFood, its first-ever agtech-focused program. The round follows a €15 million raise from September 2019 that was led by the Danish state fund Vaekstfonden, Dutch investment firm De Hoge Dennen, and “unnamed high net worth individuals,” according to an article on AgFunder news. This latest round of investment comes from undisclosed investors from Europe. 

Nine-year-old Rockstart, who also operates programs for the energy and health sector, kicked off the first-ever cohort for its agtech (also called “agrifood”) program last September. Ten startups were chose to participate, including ChefMe, a platform for hiring private chefs, precision-farming company Vultus, and Beyond Leather Materials, which repurposes unused foods to make leather alternatives.

For all its programs, including AgriFood, Rockstart looks for growth-stage startups and focuses on getting them access to markets and capital. AgriFood, in particular, looks for startups innovating in the following areas: optimizing processes and practices, reducing and/or stopping food waste, and improving traceability.  

Chosen companies receive an initial €100,000 (€35,000 in cash and €65,000 in program costs in exchange for 6 percent equity via a convertible loan). Startups are also eligible for potential follow-on investments from Rockstart up to their Series B stage. The program provides all participants with networking and mentorship opportunities as well as access to the wider Rockstart community. 

The first cohort’s Demo Day, where companies showcase and pitch their products and services will take place on January 30 in Copenhagen. According to the Rockstart website, applications for the next cohort open in April 2020. 

Chicago Considers a Ban on Foam Takeout Boxes for Restaurants

Chicago introduced an ordinance this week that would ban restaurants from using polystyrene (aka foam) to-go containers and also limit the amount of disposable plastics they use.

The “Plastic-Free Water” ordinance, introduced by Alderman (32nd) Scott Waguespack and Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th), calls for a total ban of polystyrene packaging that would go into effect on January 1, 2021. Restaurants would have to substitute with reusable dishes for dine-in orders and recyclable or compostable ones for takeout and delivery orders.

The ordinance also calls for a limit — though not a total ban — on single-use plastics like to-go cutlery. Restaurants would give these items out if requested or have them available at self-service stations, rather than packaging them with each order by default. Additionally, customers would be able to bring their own reusable cups.

Restaurants that do not have the space to wash dishes and can’t contract out that work (think food trucks or mall kiosks) would be able to request a full or partial waiver.

To help restaurants understand the kinds of alternative packaging available to them, the city of Chicago would provide a list of businesses that sell recyclable and compostable materials, and would also give restaurant printable signs to put up directing customers where to properly dispose of their items (e.g., in the compost bin versus the one recycling).

Providing restaurants with a list of available alternatives to polystyrene is an important step in the industry, as one of the issues businesses face when making the switch to sustainable to-go packaging is even knowing what else is out there. Whether these alternatives will actually be realistically affordable, especially for smaller, independent restaurants, remains in question. To that end, the Illinois Restaurant Association released a statement on Wednesday that more or less supports these efforts but also points out that the ordinance could drive costs for restaurant owners higher.

Chicago is just the latest city to consider a ban on single-use packaging in the restaurant industry, following similar moves by New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, and others.

Taco Bell Outlines Plans to Make Consumer-facing Packaging Sustainable by 2025

Taco Bell announced this week its goal to make all consumer-facing packaging — cups, wrappers, etc. — recyclable, compostable, or reusable by 2025, according to a press release. 

This pledge applies to all materials that come into contact with consumers when they order food, from taco wrappers to cups to those $5 Cravings boxes. While the press release doesn’t delve too far into what materials might be used to make some of these items more sustainable, it does note that PFAS, Phthalates and BPA — chemicals associated with health problems like cancer and thyroid disease — will be removed from all consumer-facing packaging. 

The chain will also install recycling and composting bins in locations “where infrastructure permits,” meaning any city that supports those waste streams. 

In an interview with Fast Company, Missy Schaaphok, Taco Bell’s global nutrition and sustainability manager, offered some hints as to what future packaging might look like. That includes things like food baskets for dine-in customers and compostable or paper straws “in places that legally require them.”

Taco Bell already has some sustainability initiatives in place. It introduced recyclable cups and lids for cold drinks in in early 2019, and as Schaaphok told Fast Company, “a good portion of [the chain’s] packaging today is already recyclable or compostable.”

That’s all well and good, but a major challenge for QSRs nowadays is convincing customers to dispose of recyclable and compostable materials properly instead of just chucking them in the garbage. In some states, this will be easier. California, for example, passed AB 827 last year, a law that requires limited-service restaurants to make recycling and composting bins available, as well as provide signage to guide customers as to which items go in which bins.

Getting customers to actually recycle and compost their waste is not a Taco Bell-specific issue. As The Spoon contributor Stephen J. Bronner pointed out in a post this week, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Subway, and others have all pledged sustainability initiatives. Many of them are around packaging. All of them will have to contend with how to best communicate the importance of sustainability to the consumer.

For QSRs, who have always relied heavily on disposable packaging for both in-house and to-go orders, making the “reduce, reuse, recycle” concept easy for customers will become paramount in terms of actually keeping trash out of the landfills. 

A Snapshot of the 6 Biggest Fast Food Companies’ Sustainability Pledges

Environmental issues are no longer an invisible threat. With temperatures warming, oceans are heating up and extreme weather events such as hurricanes and forest fires, as we’re currently seeing in Australia, are happening more frequently.

There’s only so much individuals can do to lessen our impact on the warming planet, including flying and driving less and cutting back on meat. It’s on governments and businesses, especially corporations, to stave off catastrophe.

As we start off a new decade, let’s take a look at the sustainability pledges of the top fast food companies by revenues. As emissions that result from meat and dairy production are on track to contribute 70 percent of the total allowable greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the BBC reports, fast food chains’ decisions have a lot of impact on the planet, although most pledges have centered around packaging. As some of the largest brands on the planet, these moves will not only cut back on climate change causing emissions and pollution, but provide an example to other businesses.

1. McDonald’s

The world’s biggest restaurant company in 2018 was the first fast food company to commit to sustainability. McDonald’s pledged that by 2025, “100 percent of McDonald’s guest packaging will come from renewable, recycled, or certified sources,” and also “to recycle guest packaging in 100 percent of McDonald’s restaurants.” For this year, it also set a goal that “100 percent of fiber-based packaging will come from recycled or certified sources where no deforestation occurs.” The company has also invested in a wind farm and a solar farm that it said will produce “more than 2,500 McDonald’s restaurants-worth of electricity.” As far as plant-based options, the Golden Arches is expanding its Beyond Meat test in Canada.

2. Starbucks

According to the coffee giant, “an estimated 600 billion paper and plastic cups are distributed globally,” and Starbucks accounts for an estimated 1 percent of that total. It has set a goal to “double the recycled content, recyclability and compostability, and reusability of our cups and packaging by 2022.” It plans to phase out straws this year. (A small competitor of Starbucks, Blue Bottle, plans to eliminate disposable cups entirely.) Starbucks, which said it has invested in renewable energy, has also set a goal to design, build and operate 10,000 “Greener Stores” globally by 2025. Starbucks offers several plant-based milks, and is expanding its lineup of non-dairy drinks.

3. Subway

The sandwich company hasn’t made any specific pledges, and pins a lot of the responsibility of energy conservation on its franchise operators. Subway offers a meatless Beyond Meat meatball sub. The company says its paper products, including towels, tissues and napkins, are made from 100 percent recycled material. As for the rest of its materials, including cups, wraps, bowls and lids, Subway makes no further commitments to make them more sustainable.

4. Chick-fil-a

The popular chicken restaurant that closes on Sundays also hasn’t issued any major sustainability pledges. The company said last year it is “thoughtfully searching for sustainable design solutions that are recyclable, compostable or contain recycled content — starting with new bowls” made of recyclable PET plastic. Chick-fil-a has committed to reducing construction waste for its new locations. The chain offers no plant-based options.

5. Taco Bell

The Mexican-inspired food chain is the latest to issue a big sustainability pledge. It has committed to “making all consumer-facing packaging recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025 worldwide,” as well as adding recycling and/or composting bins to all restaurants, “where infrastructure permits.” Last year, it committed to more sustainable beef. Taco Bell has long featured vegetarian and vegan options, and recently made them more prominent on its menu.

6. Burger King

The other burger chain also hasn’t set any firm sustainability commitments for the decade. Rather, it said it will “continuously review our policies on animal welfare, sourcing and environmental impact to ensure that we remain good corporate citizens in the communities we serve.” The company, responding to a Change.org petition, said it will stop giving out plastic toys, but only in the U.K. At least you can get the Impossible Whopper at every U.S. store.

Of course, the companies who did make pledges are not beholden to them. It’s up to investors and consumers to hold each company responsible to do their part to reducing their contributions to climate change.

If any company updates their pledges, we will revisit and update this article.

CES 2020: Bosch and Chefling Introduce Inventory Management Tech to Their At-Home Smart Kitchen System

Appliance-maker Bosch, part of the BSH Home Appliances family, and AI-powered kitchen assistant Chefling will show off the latest features of their connected kitchen system at CES this week. At the center of those features is inventory management technology that uses in-refrigerator image recognition to identify items that are added or removed from the fridge and automatically update inventory lists, according to a press release from Chefling.

Chefling’s AI-powered kitchen assistant aids the consumer meal journey in the home kitchen by helping users manage food inventory, create shopping lists, and send digital recipes to their connected kitchen appliances. As part of this package, the Chefling app can recommend recipes based on what’s in a user’s connected fridge or pantry — a feature that could potentially save consumers lots of time and money since it helps them utilize what food is already at home rather than sending them to the store. To do that, however, the system needs the most up-to-date inventory of what’s actually in the fridge when it’s time to cook.

That’s where the new inventory management technology comes in. Previously, users had to scan a barcode or take a picture of their receipt in order for Chefling to keep track of what was in the fridge. With the new technology, users can simply put groceries into a Bosch-connected fridge (or take them out) and their at-home food inventory automatically updates within the Chefling app. The system can be used with any camera-equipped fridge that is equipped with BSH’s Home Connect system. New recipes based on the updated inventory will be available from the Chefling app.

As our awareness of the food waste problem increases and companies work to find solutions to fight the issue, technology that can help manage at-home food inventory is poised to become more commonplace in the average consumer’s kitchen. Connecting the fridge to systems that keep track of food already in the home is one way to do so, and Bosch/Chefling aren’t alone in highlighting new technology for this at CES. Both LG and Samsung are also showing off high-tech refrigerators that can recognize the food inside and suggest recipes based on those items. LG, in particular, uses a computer vision system to keep a real-time inventory of what’s inside the fridge.

BSH invested in Chefling in May of 2019, acquiring one third of the latter’s shares as part of the terms of the deal (other details were not disclosed). Since the deal, Chefling has increased both the number of users on its platform and the system’s ability to self learn, which is vital to keeping track of inventory in real time.

Bosch and Chefling will be showing off the system at the Bosch booth this week at CES.

2020 Might Just Be the Year of the Zero-Waste Coffeeshop

Earlier this week, a company called T’HO Coffee in Los Angeles wrapped a successful Kickstarter campaign, raising more than $20,000 to open a coffee shop in the City of Angels that will be completely zero waste. That means reusable cups and straws, cheesecloth in place of disposable brewing filters, and nary a plastic utensil to be found onsite.

The success of T’HO’s Kickstarter campaign suggests consumers are finally ready to take the idea of zero-waste coffeeshops seriously. Let’s hope so. At a time when only about 9 percent of all plastic generated is actually gets recycled, it seems we’re getting fed up with disposable cups and lids winding up in landfills alongside paper sleeves, single-use straws, and those ridiculous plastic lid stoppers.

Going fully zero waste is, to make an understatement, no small feat for any business (or consumer, for that matter). There are companies trying the concept out. Blue Bottle Coffee snagged a bunch of headlines in late 2019 when it announced it would make all locations zero waste in 2020. The company also noted that the initiative “may not work, that [it] may cost us money, and that may make your life a little more complicated.” 

We’ll have to wait and see how Blue Bottle’s efforts pan out over the next several months, and see if the reality of having a truly zero-waste operation is too expensive for most coffeeshops. But between the extremes of no waste and plastic lid stoppers lies a huge number of opportunities for cafes to cut down on waste, and many are already doing just that. 

Reusable Cups
Coffeeshops hand out roughly 250 billion paper cups every year. Most of those go straight to the landfill. 

While larger companies like McDonald’s, Starbucks, and others have put some of their dollars behind initiatives to develop a truly recyclable, compostable cup, many smaller chains and independent businesses are getting rid of the to-go cup altogether. At least, they’re headed that way, and encouraging customers to do the same.

For example, when T’HO’s shop opens, it will offer customers a slight upcharge (the exact amount isn’t yet specified) to get their drinks in a compostable to-go cup. At the same time, those who bring their own cup will receive a small discount. 

Once it goes zero-waste, Blue Bottle’s customers will have one option for getting coffee to go: laying down a “modest deposit” for a reusable to-go cup they can later return to the cafe for cleaning.

Reusable Cup Programs
Ditching the to-go cup doesn’t mean these companies will change consumer expectations around delivery and convenience overnight, though. In fact, with off-premises orders expected to drive the bulk of restaurant sales, including coffeeshops, over the next 10 years, more must be done to meet this demand without further trashing the planet.

To that end, a handful of companies are trialing programs that combine coffee delivery and reusable cups. In the UK, CupClub provides participating coffee retailers with plant-based plastic mugs that contain RFID tags that get registered to an individual customer’s CupClub account when they purchase a coffee. Users can return the cup to a CupClub location when finished with their drink. It’s basically Citi-Bike for reusable coffee cups, and the concept is catching on. Vessel Works has a similar program in Colorado and Berkeley, California. And a NYC-based company called GOffee has a coffee delivery program for corporate offices that delivers drinks in resuable cups then collects the cups for cleaning the next day. 

Straws, Sleeves, Sugar Packets and More
Cups are a huge part of coffeeshop waste, but they’re not the only culprit. As Seven Corners, a coffeeshop in Portland, Oregon, points out in the importance of “refusing to offer things that are inherently wasteful.” The company, part of the Nossa Familia Coffee company, doesn’t offer things like individual sugar packets, plastic containers for condiments (e.g., cream cheese), and keeps things like straws and sleeves behind the counter and only available on request.

Bulk Coffee
Places like Seven Corners and Blue Bottle have also historically sold coffee by the bag for consumers to take home. Yes, most of these paper bags can be recycled. But since the point of zero-waste initiatives is about changing consumer mindset around grabbing inherently wasteful products in the first place, some of these companies have ditched the paper bag in favor of reusable containers. Seven Corners customers only offers bulk coffee to customers who bring their own containers. Ditto for Blue Bottle once it switches its shops over to zero waste. When T’HO opens, customers will be able to grab a glass jar in the store, fill it with coffee, and pay based on weight.

Reusable packaging is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to making the coffeeshop a zero-waste initiative. It’s also low-hanging fruit, meaning it’s somewhat easier and cheaper for businesses to adopt as part of their overall operations. There are other ways the coffeeshop can become more eco-friendly, from proper disposal of espresso grounds to working with more responsible suppliers. Some of these areas are more challenging than others in terms of making them a part of a shop’s overall business strategy. As we move forward into 2020, efforts by early movers like Blue Bottle, T’HO, and others will give us a better idea of how to make initiatives like these more widespread.