Starbucks claims plastic cups recyclable but none reached recycling facility, report finds

A new report from environmental watchdog organization Beyond Plastics found that none of 53 tagged Starbucks plastic cups placed in in-store recycling bins ended up at a recycling facility, challenging the coffee giant’s claim that the cups are “widely recyclable.”

Starbucks announced earlier this year that its plastic cups had been classified as “widely recyclable” by How2Recycle, a consumer packaging industry group that helps companies label packaging. The company called the designation a “big milestone, with huge impact.”

Researchers and volunteers with Beyond Plastics, which aims to “end plastic pollution everywhere,” conducted an investigation from January to March 2026 to determine whether the cold-drink cups were actually being recycled.

“I used Bluetooth-enabled trackers,” said study lead Susan Keefe. “And I glued them into the cups using Gorilla Glue and dropped them into the actual custom-labeled recycling bins in the Starbucks stores. And then you can follow them on your phone.”

Keefe and volunteers tracked 53 polypropylene cups from recycling bins at Starbucks locations across nine states and Washington, D.C. Each bin had signs indicating the cups could be recycled. None of the cups reached a recycling facility.

Of the 36 trackers that reached a final destination intact, none were located at a recycling facility, according to the report.

Beyond Plastics said 16 trackers pinged from landfills, nine from incinerators, eight from waste-transfer stations, and three from a materials recovery facility that bales but does not recycle plastics. The cup traveling the farthest went from a Williamsburg, Brooklyn, location to a landfill in Amsterdam, Ohio.

“To come out and just say: ‘Oh, these cups are widely recyclable,’ is really deceptive,” said Keefe. “We have to accept the fact these materials are not being recycled. They just aren’t.”

Polypropylene, the plastic used in Starbucks and other fast-food cups, can theoretically be recycled into other products but few facilities can process it. A Greenpeace report from late 2025 found only two commercially operating recycling facilities for polypropylene in the United States, one in Alabama and one in Missouri.

“I have to imagine that Starbucks is aware of the number of facilities that actually reprocess the waste,” said Keefe. “Starbucks is telling people that these items are actually recyclable. Well, that doesn’t actually mean that recycling is happening.”

Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and a former EPA regional administrator, emphasized that “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 prioritizing plastic-free, preferably reusable, alternatives for its customers,” she said.

Starbucks did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.

Beyond Plastics recommends that Starbucks switch all plastic cups nationwide to fiber-based to-go cups and lids, and encourage reusable cup use, but at minimum remove misleading labeling from in-store recycling bins.

“I think we need to stop talking about plastic recyclability and really focus on moving away from single-use plastic, at least for food and beverage packaging,” said Keefe. “Not to mention the fact that that plastic has chemicals in it and all kinds of other things that are affecting our health.”

Peer-reviewed studies have repeatedly found that plastic waste can be toxic to humans, leading to health effects including respiratory illnesses, endocrine disruption and cancer.

“I really believe that companies, when they make claims, especially claims that are about sustainability and setting goals, that they should be held accountable to those goals,” Keefe said. “Starbucks in particular, I mean, they’re the largest coffee chain in the world. So what they say matters.”