Starbucks responds to water waste reports

The tabloid newspaper compared the wastage as enough water to meet the needs of drought-riddled Namibia. Accusing the coffee chain of leaving taps continually running in its 10,000 stores worldwide, The Sun described the policy as 'crackpot'. Starbucks insisted it always looks to reduce its water usage and said the dipper well system it uses is commonplace within the food and drink industry. A spokesperson told us: "Starbucks challenge is to balance water conservation with the need for customer safety. The dipper well system currently in use in Starbucks retail stores ensures that we meet or exceed our own and local health standards. Dipper wells use a stream of continuous fresh-running water to rinse away food residue, help keep utensils clean and prevent bacterial growth. This technique is common and well-accepted in the industry." The coffee chain added that there is always an opportunity to scale back on water wastage: "Dipper wells are commonly used in catering but there are alternative options and these are being investigated, however switching to a new system may take a while. In order to minimise water usage in our stores, store partners (employees) are encouraged to keep the dipper well flow to a minimum during operating hours. They are instructed to turn it off completely when the store is closed. "Despite these conservation moves, we continue to seek new operating practices to help minimize water use while complying with food safety and regulatory requirement. For example, to date, Starbucks has tested alternative methods to the dipper well system in select stores. This includes the use of an ice bath and the elimination of spoons altogether. Neither of these alternatives were successful." Jacob Tompkins Director of Waterwise said that he was satisfied Starbucks is committed to environmental standards but agreed there is constantly room for improvement: "We know that Starbucks has invested in a lot of water saving equipment, however there is clearly room for improvement in this area and we look forward to working together to reduce Starbucks' water consumption. In the short term Starbucks could look at ways of reducing flow rates and at finding times when the tap can be turned off and these two simple approaches should be able to roughly cut wastage in two."