Starbucks plans to drop single-use plastic straws by 2020 across its 28,000 stores worldwide, the company announced July 9.
The move makes Starbucks the largest food and beverage chain to commit to eliminating plastic straws. The company said it will replace the straws with a strawless lid or alternative-material straws, such as paper or compostable plastic.
Starbucks has already designed and made a strawless lid that will become standard for its iced coffee, tea and espresso drinks. The lid is currently available in more than 8,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada for select beverages. Seattle and Vancouver will be the first cities to see the strawless lids roll out this fall, with a phased rollout following in 2019 across the U.S. and Canada.
Starbucks predicts more than 1 billion plastic straws will be eliminated from the store each year after the change takes effect.
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