IN an age of drones, robots and virtual reality, Starbucks is sponsoring a challenge aimed at revolutionizing a decidedly low-tech product — the paper coffee cup.

The coffee giant is hoping scientists, chemists or just everyday tinkerers and thinkers can come up with a cup that’s compostable, breaking down in a way that it basically disappears from the waste stream, or one becomes a component in another product.

The problem isn’t just the paper, but the cup’s waterproof lining.

Inventing a truly eco-friendly coffee cup is no small feat, and the stakes are huge. Consumers go through an estimated 600 billion paper and plastic cups per year worldwide. Starbucks says its coffee drinkers and other customers account for about 1 percent, which would be somewhere around 6 billion.

The US$10 million NextGen Cup Challenge initiative was announced last Tuesday. Inventors working on an answer to the disposable cup conundrum will receive grants.

“This is the first step in the development of a global end-to-end solution that would allow cups around the world to be diverted from landfills and composted or given a second life as another cup, napkin or even a chair — anything that can use recycled material,” Starbucks said.

Starbucks paper cups currently are made with 10 percent post-consumer recycled fiber, according to the company.

To prod consumers to use reusable cups, the company’s stores in London last month began levying a fee of 5 pence — roughly 7 cents — for paper cups, a trial that will last for three months to see if the charge changes consumer behavior.

The British Government is considering mandating a 25-penny charge per disposable cup.

In 2017, the Seattle-based chain began serving its Nitro Cold Brew Coffee with sippable lids, so no plastic straws are needed.(SD-Agencies)