(Photo Courtesy of Starbucks)Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson sent a public letter to the company’s stakeholders this week setting 2030 science-based targets that drastically cut carbon emissions, water use, and waste. His goal to have Starbucks eventually store more carbon than it emits follows on the heels of Microsoft’s announcement to become carbon negative.
“Our aspiration is to become resource positive — storing more carbon than we emit, eliminating waste, and providing more clean freshwater than we use,” Johnson wrote. “By embracing a longer-term economic, equitable, and planetary value proposition for our company, we will create greater value for all stakeholders.”
Specifically, Johnson outlined three main 2030 targets:
“On Starbucks 50th anniversary in 2021, we will formalize our 2030 environmental goals based on what we have learned between now and then,” Johnson wrote.
He indicated that the company plans to conduct market research and trials this year to find out which incentives encourage consumers to move toward reusable containers. In addition, Starbucks intends to collaborate with experts and advocates on reusability goals in a number of markets by next year.
On Tuesday, the company signed the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, joining more than 450 other signatories around a circular economy for plastic.
“We do know that this journey will require new innovations and creative ideas from entrepreneurs, nonprofits, our suppliers, our licensees, our partners, and our customers,” Johnson’s letter said. “We will also be working in concert with the Science Based Targets initiative to help track our progress in conjunction with other companies.”
