SEATTLE — A group of protesters calling for Starbucks to make a 100 percent recyclable cup made eye-catching displays in front of the company’s Seattle headquarters this week.
PHOTOS: 8,000-cup wall built in front of Starbucks' HQ
Bellingham-based group Stand.earth constructed a wall of used cups along First Avenue South in SoDo as well as a large “cup monster” in the parking lot.
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The group says the wall, made from 8,000 cups, represents the 4 billion cups thrown away each year. The cup monster is made from 1,000 cups.
The displays are part of a five-day protest.
The group says Starbucks’ customers assume their paper cups are recyclable, but that's not true in most cases.
"(Starbucks) uses 8,000 cups a minute, every minute of every day of every year. Eight-thousand cups are going in the landfill because in most places around the world, Starbucks cups are not recyclable,“ said Jim Ace, Corporate Campaigner at Stand.earth.
Stand.earth says the cups cannot be processed in most recycling facilities because of their plastic lining, which clogs the recycling equipment.
Activists plan to camp outside the headquarters until Friday.
Starbucks sent KIRO 7 the following statement in response to the protest:
"Contrary to what the activist group is claiming, Starbucks hot cup is recyclable in Seattle as well as other cities where coffee cups can be recycled. To that end, SPU even includes an image of our cup on their flier for what can be recycled in the city. The protest taking place in front of our Seattle headquarters this morning is misguided and intentionally ignores the fact that Starbucks hot cup is recyclable, as well as the realities and complexity of recycling in our country. To read our full response to the organization please visit our Starbucks Newsroom."