Starbucks Coffee Company announced it will eliminate single-use plastic straws from its more than 28,000 company operated and licensed stores by making a strawless lid or alternative-material straw options available around the world. Starbucks anticipates the move will eliminate more than one billion plastic straws per year from Starbucks stores.

Starbucks has designed, developed and manufactured a strawless lid, which will become the standard for all iced coffee, tea and espresso beverages. The lid is currently available in more than 8,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada for select beverages including Starbucks Draft Nitro and Cold Foam. The lid is also being piloted for Nitro beverages in additional markets including China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. In addition, Starbucks will begin offering straws made from alternative materials—including paper or compostable plastic—for Frappuccino blended beverages, and available by request for customers who prefer or need a straw.

As reported by Clean Water Action, “most marine debris (80%) comes from trash and debris in urban runoff, i.e., land-based sources. Food containers and packaging are the largest component of the municipal solid waste stream (80 million tons). These items, together with plastic bags, also represent the largest component of marine debris (barring items less than 5 mm).”