Starbucks promised to halve the waste they send to landfill by 2030. It has gone the other way. Starbucks are estimated to produce around 1.1 million metric tonnes (2.4 billion pounds) of waste in 2026, up from 920,000 tonnes in 2019, across their own and licensed stores.
That figure is Starbucks' own, and it counts the waste their stores generate. It leaves out the billions of cups customers carry out and bin somewhere else, which Starbucks do not report, so the real total is higher still.
In 2020 Starbucks promised to cut the waste they send to landfill in half by 2030. Six years on, their operational waste has grown to an estimated 1.1 million tonnes a year, and the amount going to landfill is higher than when they made the pledge, not lower.
Starbucks' waste year by year (2019-2026)
Starbucks report their total operational waste against a 2019 baseline, and it has climbed rather than fallen.
| Year | Operational waste (metric tonnes) | Change on prior year (tonnes) | Change on prior year (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,090,000 | +10,000 | +0.9% |
| 2025 | 1,080,000 | +12,000 | +1.1% |
| 2024 | 1,068,000 | -6,000 | -0.6% |
| 2023 | 1,074,000 | +39,000 | +3.8% |
| 2022 | 1,035,000 | +38,000 | +3.8% |
| 2021 | 997,000 | +39,000 | +4.1% |
| 2020 | 958,000 | +38,000 | +4.1% |
| 2019 | 920,000 | baseline | - |
Note: Starbucks publish 2019, 2023 and 2024 in their Fiscal 2024 impact report. The years between are interpolated and 2025 to 2026 are projected on the recent trend. The figures cover their own and licensed stores, not the waste customers carry out.
The dip in 2024 is partly a definition change: Starbucks stopped counting drinks poured down the sink that year, which trimmed the total on paper rather than in practice.
Where Starbucks' waste ends up
Most of it is not recycled. This is how Starbucks' waste split in 2024.
| Where the waste went | Metric tonnes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Landfill or incineration | 681,000 | 64% |
| Recycling | 293,000 | 27% |
| Composting | 88,000 | 8% |
| Other diversion | 7,000 | 1% |
Note: From Starbucks' Fiscal 2024 impact report. They diverted 36% of their waste from landfill in 2024, up from 30% in 2019, so the direction is right even as the total keeps rising.
Who are Starbucks?
Starbucks are an American coffee company, the largest coffeehouse chain in the world. They began in 1971 as a single shop in Seattle, and grew into a global chain serving millions of drinks a day.
A few figures show the scale behind the waste.
-
Stores: 40,199 worldwide, about half run by Starbucks and half licensed to other operators.
-
Markets: sold in 87 countries and territories.
-
Revenue: 36.2 billion dollars in the year to September 2024.
-
Staff: around 361,000 people, who Starbucks call partners.
-
Founded: 1971, in Seattle.
Why Starbucks make so much waste
The total is large for reasons built into how a coffeehouse works. Four things drive it.
-
A single-use model. Nearly every drink leaves in a disposable cup with a lid, and often a sleeve, a straw and a bag, all used once and thrown away.
-
Around 6 billion cups a year. By Starbucks' own figure, cited by campaigners, they get through roughly six billion cups annually, most carried out and binned away from the store.
-
More than 40,000 stores. At that scale, even a few grams of packaging per drink add up to hundreds of thousands of tonnes across a year.
-
Hard-to-recycle cups. The paper cups are lined with plastic to hold liquid, and that lining jams standard recycling machines, so most cups are not recycled.
Spread across a year, the 2026 estimate works out at roughly 3,000 tonnes of waste a day.
The trouble with Starbucks cups
Starbucks talk often about recyclable and reusable cups, but the record is not close to the promises.
In 2008 they pledged to serve a quarter of drinks in reusable cups by 2015. By 2022 the figure was about 1.2%. A parallel goal to make all cups recyclable or reusable by 2015 also passed unmet.
In early 2026 Starbucks labelled their plastic cold cups "widely recyclable." Weeks later the campaign group Beyond Plastics put tracking tags in cups dropped into Starbucks recycling bins and followed where they went.
None reached a recycling plant. Most ended up in landfill or an incinerator, and Starbucks disputed the study's method.
Emissions tell a similar story. Starbucks' greenhouse-gas emissions, about 13 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, are reported separately and are not part of the waste figure above. They too have risen since 2019, and Starbucks are now reassessing their 2030 climate goal.
Frequently asked questions about Starbucks' waste
Below are the questions people most often ask about Starbucks' waste.
How much waste does Starbucks produce each year?
Starbucks are estimated to produce around 1.1 million tonnes of operational waste in 2026, based on their own reported figure of 1,068,000 tonnes in 2024. That covers their stores, but not the billions of cups customers carry out and bin elsewhere.
How many cups does Starbucks use?
Around 6 billion single-use cups a year, on Starbucks' own figure cited by campaigners. Only about 1.2% of drinks are served in a reusable cup, despite a long-standing pledge to reach 25%.
Are Starbucks cups recyclable?
Rarely. The paper cups are lined with plastic that jams recycling machinery, and a 2026 study that tracked cups from Starbucks recycling bins found none reached a recycling plant, most went to landfill or incineration.
Is Starbucks meeting their waste goal?
No. Starbucks pledged in 2020 to halve the waste they send to landfill by 2030, against a 2019 baseline. By 2024 that waste was about 6% higher than the baseline, not lower.
Does Starbucks report their food waste?
Not as a single tonnage. Starbucks run a FoodShare programme that has donated more than 60 million meals of surplus food, but a donation figure is not a measure of how much food they waste.
Are Starbucks' emissions counted in this waste figure?
No. Starbucks' greenhouse-gas emissions, around 13 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, are reported separately. Emissions are gas, not physical waste, so they are not part of the 1.1 million tonne total.
How do we estimate Starbucks' waste?
We take Starbucks' own reported operational waste for 2019, 2023 and 2024, fill the missing years by interpolation, and project 2025 and 2026 on the recent trend. The result is about 1.1 million tonnes in 2026.
Images: Mack Male
