We wanted to share a quick update from As You Sow and Trillium’s progressive work on reusable containers and recyclable packaging. Blue Summit partners with As You Sow to encourage responsible changes in large corporations. The shared goal is to spur business practices that are socially responsible and conducive to long term financial health for those corporations and their shareholders.
Starbucks committed to a significant expansion of its previous reusables efforts, after As You Sowand Trillium Asset Management filed shareholder resolutions in 2019 and 2020. The resolutions led to a very productive engagement, resulting in substantive steps on reusables and packaging waste.
Coronavirus has put the reusables work on hold — appropriately — but Starbucks is working on both short and long term goals simultaneously. Their commitment includes:
Make existing single use cups more recyclable and more frequently recycled in the short term
Cut packaging waste 50% by 2030
Pursue long-term efforts to shift to reusable containers (when appropriate, given public health requirements)
Starbucks’ prior commitments mostly targeted North America and Europe. These new goals cover all 82 countries where Starbucks does business which equates to 28,000 stores worldwide.
As You Sow continues to monitor the progress Starbucks makes in their commitments, as well as apply pressure to other companies who need to clean up their business footprint.Socially conscious shareholders hope the commitment to reduce waste sent to landfill with be a catalyst for new programs on reuse, recycling, and compostability in fast-growing developing markets.”
Some of the above content can be found on As You Sow’s website here.
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Some mutual funds contained in Blue Summit investment models perform shareholder advocacy either directly with companies or in cooperation with authorized filers like As You Sow. Blue Summit does not directly engage with companies like Starbucks. Many, but not all clients, are invested in funds that perform this advocacy.
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