The Ministry of Environment and Starbucks Coffee Korea announced that the entire 350 Starbucks stores participate in the campaign for not using disposable paper cups from June 1st. Also, a drip matt will be given to customers who use a mug or a tumbler from June 1st. (40 a day by order of arrival)
On January 18, 2011, the Ministry of Environment and Starbucks Coffee Korea began a campaign for not using disposable paper cups and as of this March, 110 stores participated in the campaign. In order to expand stores not using disposable paper cups, Starbucks installed 'mug warmers', which keep a mug shelf and a mug warm for the first time in the industry. Also, it built an internal system by which staff can check the rate of mug use in real time.
After the campaign, the rate of mug use in the stores recorded about 78%. In addition, the total rate of mug use including takeout reached about 49%, increased by about 11.4% from that of January (37.6%), before the launch of the campaign. In particular, about 4million cups were saved in 110 stores. If the goal for mug use this year -- 35% -- is reached, it is expected that 14million cups can be saved.
As other coffee shop brands are showing interest in not using disposable paper cups, the ministry plans to expand the campaign by stages.
