An estimated 369.65 million disposable cups were used to serve drinks by nine major coffee chains in
Greenpeace
The group surveyed Starbucks,
Starbucks is estimated to have consumed the largest number of disposal cups, totaling around 231.7 million, of which some 142.1 million were plastic cups. It was followed by
These three chains mostly serve beverages in disposal cups even for customers drinking them at the chains' shops, increasing their dependence on disposables as a result, according to Greenpeace.
The three chains serve 3 percent, 20 percent and 31 percent, respectively, of their beverages in reusable cups, it said.
A public relations official at
As part of that effort, its Japanese branch has started serving cold drinks in glasses at 106 of its shops since April, while offering takeaway drinks in rental reusable cups on a trial basis, according to the official.
The report said about 91,000 single-use disposable cups are thrown away every hour in the Japanese cafe sector alone.
"With most of them being incinerated, or, in the worst case, improperly disposed into the environment, combined action from the cafe sector and the government is urgently needed to end the flood of single-use cups and transition towards a system based on the mantra of 'reduce, reuse, and refill,'" it added.
"They should be able to promote the shift to reusable cups reasonably smoothly by introducing a new sales system such as charging for disposable cups and giving discounts to customers using reusable ones," he said.
==Kyodo
© Kyodo News International, Inc., source