McDonald’s is joining Starbucks to produce recyclable drink cups
McDonald’s is joining an effort begun this spring by its coffeefocused rival, Starbucks, to produce a recyclable hot beverage cup.
The NextGen Cup Consortium is the centrepiece of Starbucks’ third attempt in the last decade to redesign the ubiquitous plasticlined paper cup for recycling or composting. While plastic straws have been in the news lately, the consortium says these cups are “the most significant challenge faced by the industry.”
After continued pressure from environmental groups, as well as some customers and employees, Starbucks said in March it would commit $10 million over three years to the effort, while calling the coffee cup problem larger than any one company.
The addition of McDonald’s — along with a $5 million funding commitment from the restaurant chain — bolsters the chances of making a real impact on the life cycle of some 600 billion cups sent to landfills annually.
Much of the funding will flow to entrepreneurs working on recyclable and compostable cup designs who compete in the NextGen Cup Challenge, beginning in September. More than 1,000 companies and individuals have expressed interest in participating, according to Kate Daly of Closed Loop Partners, which convened the consortium and challenge.
The consortium will award up to $1 million in funding to selected teams, up to seven of which will be offered a spot in a sixmonth accelerator program to help scale up, with input from representatives of the cup supply chain, to the volume necessary to serve the vast disposable cup market.