Starbucks Community Service: Message List - Recycling

Re: Recycling

communityservice@starbucks.com — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:59:56 GMT

It's me again!

So I just got my second new trash can for front of the house recycling. They are still both in my back hallway and I am afraid that I will not be able to use them the way they are. It says that we can recycle paper cups, hot and cold lids, paper (including napkins), plastic cups, cans, bottles, plastic containers from sanwiches... Everything else goes in the "trash/landfill" side.

I know that this is not case for my store. If I collect everything listed in the "recyclling" side, it becomes contaminated and it can't be recycled in my shopping center. If customers put their cold cup with the lid AND a straw, it is contaminated (straw must be pulled out! - different type of plastic). Paper can't go with the plastic at all! Same for the BOH: no cartons from soy milk or chai or heavy cream! No empty chargers!..... How complicated!

I had a meeting with a person form our local government and he confirmed that before we start using the trash can we must contact our landlords and the company that collects our trash/recycling to make sure that we can mix all the product that are listed on the top magnet of the trash can.

Let's make sure that we do things right! I'd rather continue doing what I am doing making sure that our things get recycled properly. Hopefully the technology of our Waste Management company gets more up-to-date at some point and we will be better prepared for mixing all recycled product together.

All the best to all of us,

Anna

Re: Recycling

communityservice@starbucks.com — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 03:08:47 GMT

This is a great idea! I'd want to do something like this at my store, it's

Just that this would probably only work with stores that sell large amount of

RTD items.

Re: Recycling

communityservice@starbucks.com — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 21:33:02 GMT

Don't you guys have commingled trash dumpster? We can combine the glass, plastic and alluminium all together in one dumpster. Each time I see a can in the trash, I pull it out and recycle. It makes it so much easier. My partners also know what to do with their can if they have a soda etc.

Anna

Re: Recycling

communityservice@starbucks.com — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 21:29:36 GMT

In my store we recycle:

- milk and sauce jugs

- syrup bottles, any plastic bottles

- alluminum cans

- our cold cups and lids (clean)

- hot cups (clean

- cardboard and mixed paper

- gift cards

- plastic bags

- empty coffee bags

- empty chargers

Some of them we take personaly to the proper place, grocery store, scrap metal yard or home to recycle.

That is why I am very excited about the Front of the House recycling for the customers! In Montgomery County, MD we tried this about three years ago, we had a trash can with three holes (glass, plastic and newspapers) and three compartments inside (one for each hole). We also had many customers asking about the recycling, but this trashcan was a nightmare for someone like me (i.e. one who really recycles). Most of the time it all ended in the garbage because I would have to have one person separating the trash and cleaning it from everything else what people threw in it (those non-green people who don't care!). One or two haf empty cups with frappuccino would do it. If you did not pout the bags in it, you had to clean the inside compratment each time when you changed the trash bag. Wel, basically everything ended in the trash anyway and we gave up. I was very unhappy about it I was just nor staffed to have one extra person in the back cleaning the trash can. We put the signs on the can, we covered it with the lid (so only those who really care would go throught the trouble to put something in there) - nothing worked.

I just hope that the new trash cans will be better, more visible and it will be more clear that it is for recycling onlyh!. I also hope that Starbucks will make a nice sign that will make people think before they throw regular trash in it.

Other than that, I am excited and ready to do my share!

Let's see how it will go, good luck to all of us,

Anna

Re: Recycling

communityservice@starbucks.com — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:24:25 GMT

John,

I believe we also need to talk about glass recycling. So many times the customers have asked me if we recycle our San Pellegrino, Izze, and Ice Tea bottles after they are finished because they do not want to throw them in the trash. Let's get on that!

Re: Recycling

communityservice@starbucks.com — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:25:36 GMT

Hi everyone. I wanted to add on to the conversation. My name is Stacey and I’m on the team that is responsible for waste removal for our North American stores. I love how everyone is looking for ways to beef up recycling. Just want to ensure we’re all on the same page about a couple of things.

Front of House Recycling for Customers: We know many stores are anxious to provide this service and we need you to wait. There is a Front of House Recycling Program team working hard to bring customer recycling to all of our stores by 2015. A strategic roadmap and launch calendar have been developed and we really need stores to refrain from setting up their own program and to wait until their scheduled launch time. There is a lot of research and alignment that occurs before a bin is ever placed at a store because what is accepted for recycling varies from store to store, area to area, and from home to businesses (stores). Additionally, we only order enough bins for our official launches and if unscheduled stores order them, it puts us a risk for not having enough bins. Uniformity is also important. Having the same bin type, the same graphic style, the same look and feel will go a long way in eliminating customer confusion. We really appreciate you honoring this as it will allow us to develop the most uniform program possible across all our stores. Your patience will be rewarded with an amazing program!

Behind The Counter/Back Of House Recycling We encourage partners to maximize their behind the counter recycling as much as possible since this where most of our waste is generated. And most of it can indeed be recycled, assuming local services are available. We ask that you do not call a recycling vendor directly (and never ever sign anything!) or our waste consultant, but rather call the one place you're used to calling anyway...the Facility Contact Center (FCC) at 877-SBUX-FIX.

If you don’t have BOH recycling and you want it – tell them that you’re calling about recycling, that your store currently does not have recycling service and you want to have it set up. A work order will be created and assigned to either the landlord or our waste consultant to handle, whoever provides your trash service. If your landlord provides trash service but won’t set up recycling, seek out your facility services manager for assistance. If they can’t get the landlord to set up recycling, they should call in a new work order to be assigned to our waste consultant who will work to set up recycling exclusively for your store. It’s important to always try have the landlord set it up first, though, because it will have greater environmental impact since other tenants can also use the service, but just as important, it will cost less, helping your store P&L.
If you have BOH recycling and want to make it better – tell the FCC that you’re calling about your recycling, that you want to make sure you are recycling as much as possible and would like a complete list of the items accepted for recycling. The work order will be created and assigned to whoever provides your service.

At the end of FY11 79% of our stores were recycling at least one item back of house, mainly cardboard. With conversatons like this, hopefully at the end of FY12 we can say mainly cardboard, plastic milk jugs and syrup bottles! Thanks for all your efforts! Stacey

Re: Recycling

communityservice@starbucks.com — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:43:08 GMT

I am actually planning to talk to my store manager today about finding a smart way to recycle Aluminum cans. I see so many in the trash and it annoys me that we aren't being more resonsible about it. I am also hoping we will be able to donate the money back from the cans into a different charity each month. May not be a lot, but it's one step closer to cleaner!

Re: Recycling

communityservice@starbucks.com — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:40:08 GMT

Please let Pam know that I sent her a request!

~marcia

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Re: Recycling

communityservice@starbucks.com — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:11:42 GMT

We keep bagging the grounds In our store all year round (we have four seasons )! If you have it available someone will take it. People take it mostly for their compost in fall and winter and for fertilizing and other stuff (ants hate it!) in spring, summer and fall. Have it where everyone can see it and it will be gone.

Happy recycling and happy (soon) spring!

Anna

Re: Recycling

communityservice@starbucks.com — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:30:35 GMT

This is one of the "pain in the ___" projects but think of how much we save on our backs taking out trash, how many bullets get repurposed (even if temporary), and how many people benefit from the great addittion to their compost! Please keep pushing your partners to start this as soon as spring hits (like now) and continue until snow falls. For those of you fortunate to be in warmer climates, I hope that you keep this up all year round!

~marcia