Starbucks Japan opens new store promoting coffee grounds circularity

Its coffee grounds are turned into cattle feeds.

Starbucks Japan opened a new drive-thru store in Togane City that aims to lower waste by focusing on coffee ground circularity, as well as reducing carbon emissions.

In a statement, Starbucks said the new store plays a key role in community collaboration with local manufacturer Sanyu Plant Service Corporation, which includes recycling coffee grounds from the new store into cattle feed.

Through the Starbucks coffee grounds circularity look, milk from participating dairies will then be used to make handcrafted beverages at around 200 Starbucks stores in Kanta and Kansai, including the new store, it said.

Other food waste from the new store will be turned into compost to grow produce at the rest stop in Togane City in collaboration with the Chiba Prefectural University of Agriculture.

The new store which opened on 1 June is also powered by rooftop solar panels, and locally-generate renewable energy, it said, adding that the solar system included batteries to provide backup in case of an outage.

It is also the second store in Japan to be certified under the Greener Stores Framework which aims to accelerate the transformation of retail towards lower-impact stores that contribute to reducing carbon emissions, water usage, and landfill waste.