Coffee giant Starbucks is set to trial new recyclable and compostable takeaway coffee cups in major cities across the US, UK, and Canada, the company announced yesterday.

Starbucks customers in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and London will help test a number of different cups that will be both recyclable and compostable through the municipalities' recycling services, the firm said, as it seek to drive up recycling rates and cut plastic use across its café chains.

Starbucks has a target of doubling the recycled content, recyclability, and the reusability of its cups between 2016 and 2020, and last year helped set up an industry consortium to develop new cups that could be more easily recycled and composted globally.

Currently most takeaway cups can be recycled, but only at specialist recycling facilities which are few and far between. Such facilities also require coffee cups to be collected in a separate waste stream.

"It is with great intention that we move forward with highly collaborative and innovative work to bring both recyclable and compostable cups to scale around the world," said Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson. "We are reimagining the future for Starbucks, and for the more than 30,000 communities we serve each day, with a great sense of responsibility for a more sustainable planet."

Starbucks also said it will roll out recyclable strawless lids to all stores in the US and Canada in the next year, as part of its plan to eliminate plastic straws from its business.

The announcements are the latest in a series of moves from Starbucks to curb its waste impact, including the trialling at some stores of a 'latte levy' where customers are charged more for using a disposable cup.

But in response to the news Greenpeace plastics campaigner Kate Melges accused Starbucks of still relying on a "throwaway model that puts profits before people and planet".

"While utilising less plastic is important, this announcement does not do nearly enough to address the plastic pollution crisis that the company contributes to," she said. "Just because packaging is recyclable or compostable in an industrial facility, does not mean it will be recycled or composted. To truly tackle the plastic pollution crisis, Starbucks must significantly ramp up its investment in reusability, incentivising customers to bring their own cups and mugs. Swapping out one throwaway material for another is not the real solution."