Starbucks unveils new sustainability goals, including plans for more plant-based options

You know the drill when ordering at Starbucks: Tall, Grande, Venti...and a plant-based meat alternative.

On Tuesday, Starbucks announced a number of proposed environmental goals with three main long-term objectives for 2030: to cut carbon emissions in half in its operations and supply chain, to conserve or replenish half of the water used in operations and coffee production, and to reduce by half the waste sent by the company to landfills from stores and manufacturing.

Starbucks also plans to add more plant-based food options, thus starting the process of "migrating toward a more environmentally friendly menu," according a letter from the CEO. (This follows a swift rise in plant-based meat alternatives in the fast-food world.)

Adding to its 2018 announcement about the ban of plastic straws, its latest sustainability goals also include the company shifting to more reusable packaging.

The ubiquitous coffee chain isn't the only coffee company attempting to shift to more sustainable options: Oakland-based Blue Bottle Coffee recently launched a zero waste pilot program that involves eliminating single-use cups at two locations.

With help from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Quantis, a sustainability consulting organization, Starbucks quantified the carbon, waste, and water footprint within its supply chain and operations around the world.

Starbucks says it will formalize these goals in 2021. In his letter, CEO Kevin Johnson noted that this year the company "...will conduct comprehensive market research and trials to better understand consumer behavior and incentives to encourage consumer use of reusable containers."

In the past, Starbucks has failed to meet some of its environmental targets, while also meeting others. Reuters reports that Starbucks failed to make 25 percent of its cups reusable by 2015, as planned, and instead revised the target to serving five percent of sold beverages in personal, customer tumblers. It also missed this target. Still, customers who bring in their own cup get a $.10 discount, per the company's website.

Kate Melges, a USA Plastics Campaigner at Greenpeace, weighed in on Starbucks' latest announcement in a statement sent to Mashable.

"While it’s a welcome development that Starbucks is revisiting its sustainability strategy, the company still has a lot to figure out as to how to make it happen as quickly as possible," Melges said. "When it comes to the climate crisis, increasing deforestation, water shortages, and mounting plastic pollution, we don’t have decades to wait for action. Companies like Starbucks needed to be shifting toward truly sustainable, circular practices yesterday. Starbucks’ new sustainability commitments are light on specifics. Without more detailed plans on how Starbucks will make this happen, it's difficult to say the solutions Starbucks pursues will be taking us in the right direction. "