Starbucks Japan begins experimenting with reusable cups to reduce waste

Starbucks Japan has begun an experiment on using reusable, rentable cups for their drinks on Monday. The experiment will last till next year 31 March.

Currently, the experiment is conducted at 10 Starbucks stores around the Marunouchi area of Tokyo. They include stores at Marunouchi Building Store, Gransta Marunouchi Store, KITTE Marunouchi Store, Marunouchi Oazo Store, Marunouchi New Tokyo Building Store, Marunouchi Mitsubishi Building Store, Otemachi Place Store, Otemachi Tokyo Sankei Building Store, New Major Machi Building Store, and finally Imperial Palace Gaien Wadakura Fountain Park Store (which is scheduled to open on 1 December)

After a successful test run in Okinawa, Re&Go’s system, developed by Nissha Co. and NEC Solution Innovators, will be used in this experiment. Users will use their LINE account to add Re&Go as a friend and search for a store. Registration is required for the first use. It will also be used for renting the cup and returning.

If you are a Starbucks fan and are in Tokyo, consider joining in the experiment!

1) Add Re&Go as a friend on LINE (Link here for a QR code scan to add as friend. It really isn’t the easiest to search for now)
2) Search for a Starbucks store participating in the experiment.
3) At the selected store, tell the barista that you are using the service. Scan a QR code on the cup through the Re&Go LINE’s “Rent a container.”
4) When done, return the cup and scan a QR code at the store through the Re&Go LINE’s “Return Container.”

Usage of Re&Go is free. Similar to the system used in Okinawa, the used cups will be sent to a professional partner to clean and sanitize the cups. At this point, there is no mention of how much effect the carbon emissions from the delivery between the stores and the cleaning partner will have on the experiment. Nevertheless, this is one of Starbucks’ global and Japanese efforts to achieve a 50% reduction of waste by 2030.

When we talk about waste, there is so much attention given to recycling, but we have to realize that it is not enough. Reuse and reduce are parts of the 3Rs balance too, not to mention that we have learnt more, like Refuse, Repair and Repurpose.

And having Starbucks taking the lead is an important message to other businesses that a sea change is coming, while also being a signal tower to inspire a culture of reusables.