Starbucks commits $10M for greener coffee cup

Starbucks is making a $10 million commitment to develop a greener coffee cup that is fully recyclable and compostable.

Three Starbucks holiday cups for the 2017 season are displayed, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, at a Starbucks in New York. The Seattle-based company was celebrating 20 years of holiday coffee cups. [File photo: AP/Mark Lennihan]

The company on Tuesday announced the NextGen Cup Challenge initiative in partnership with Closed Loop Partners' Center for the Circular Economy. The goal is to give cups a second life and keep them from landfills.

Inventors will receive grants.

Starbucks says its paper cups are currently manufactured with 10 percent post-consumer recycled fiber. The inside is coated with a thin liner designed to meet quality and safety standards.

The company's research and development team is testing a new bio-liner, made partially from plant-based material.

Starbucks annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday features a coffee tasting featuring small sample cups that are fully recyclable in Seattle.