Environmental watchdog Beyond Plastics has found that none of the 53 Starbucks plastic cups it tracked using GPS devices ended up at a recycling facility, despite the coffee chain labelling them as 'widely recyclable'. The investigation, conducted between January and March 2026, involved gluing Bluetooth-enabled trackers into polypropylene cups and depositing them in in-store recycling bins across nine US states and Washington DC.
Of the 36 trackers that reached a final destination intact, 16 were located at landfills, nine at incinerators, eight at waste-transfer stations and three at materials recovery facilities that bale but do not recycle plastics. One cup travelled from a Starbucks in Brooklyn, New York, to a landfill in Amsterdam, Ohio. The report suggests that the company's recycling claims are misleading.
Starbucks earlier this year announced that its plastic cups were considered 'widely recyclable' by How2Recycle, an industry-affiliated group. However, Beyond Plastics said that very few facilities can process polypropylene; a Greenpeace report from late 2025 identified only two such commercial facilities in the US. 'To come out and just say: "Oh, these cups are widely recyclable," is really deceptive,' said study lead Susan Keefe.
In response, a Starbucks spokesperson said the cups are designed to be recyclable and that the designation reflects local recycling infrastructure. The company later took issue with the methodology, arguing that placing trackers inside cups does not reflect how recycling systems operate and can introduce contamination. Starbucks said it is focused on improving recycling access and advancing reusable packaging solutions.
Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and a former EPA regional administrator, said: 'Accepting a plastic item for recycling is not the same as actually recycling it, and the company knows the difference. It's time for Starbucks to stop making misleading recycling claims and start prioritising plastic-free, preferably reusable, alternatives for its customers.'
