24 Jul 2018 --- Fast-food giant McDonald’s is joining forces with Starbucks’ existing scheme, The NextGen Cup Consortium and Challenge, convened by Closed Loop Partners. McDonald’s now joins Starbucks as a founding member of the group in a bid to develop a global recyclable and/or compostable cup solution. This announcement follows recent commitments by both companies to drive innovation of their packaging and help reduce waste. The brands estimate that 600 billion coffee cups wind up in landfills each year.