Amid the growing calls to refrain from using single-use cups recently, news broke that Starbucks is planning to eliminate single-use cups from stores in Seoul by this year.
Previously, the city of Seoul has been operating 17 stores around Seoul City Hall as eco-shops without disposable cups since November of last year, conducting a multi-use cup pilot project.
Of these, 12 are Starbucks, and Starbucks aims to convert all stores in Seoul into eco-stores like this by this year.
At Eco stores, if you order a drink for takeout, it is served in a reusable cup.
When checking out, a deposit of 1,000 won for the cup is added, and after you drink it, you can return it to the unmanned collection machine installed in the store to get your deposit back.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Starbucks, the use of reusable cups was effective in reducing 445,000 disposable cups for three months from November to the end of January last year.
The cup return rate has also been increasing, and it has been found to be about 80% in the last three months.
However, there are opinions that return is inconvenient because there is still a lack of unmanned collection machines.