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An estimated 369.65 million disposable cups were used to serve drinks by nine major coffee chains in Japan in 2020 alone, highlighting limited progress in promoting reusable cups and cutting waste, according to a recent survey by an environmental conservation group.

Greenpeace Japan said the annual waste translates into 1 million single-use plastic and paper cups a day, which, if stacked on top of each other, are “equivalent to the height of more than 10,000 Mt. Fujis,” reaching an altitude of over 37,000 kilometers.

The group surveyed Starbucks, Tully’s Coffee, Pronto, Doutor, Caffe Veloce, Excelsior Caffe, Ueshima Coffee House, Cafe de Crie and Komeda, sending questionnaires, observing their shops and analyzing sales data and other records.

Starbucks is estimated to have consumed the largest number of disposal cups, totaling around 231.7 million, of which some 142.1 million were plastic cups. It was followed by Tully’s Coffee at 72.5 million cups and Pronto at 35.3 million cups.

These three chains mostly serve beverages in disposal cups even for customers drinking them at the chains’ shops, increasing their dependence on disposables as a result, according to Greenpeace.

The three chains serve 3 percent, 20 percent and 31 percent, respectively, of their beverages in reusable cups, it said. Nagoya-based Komeda served nearly all of its drinks in reusable cups, according to the survey.

A public relations official at Starbucks Coffee Japan told Kyodo News the Seattle-headquartered coffee chain has set a global target of halving waste by 2030 compared with 2019.

As part of that effort, its Japanese branch has started serving cold drinks in glasses at 106 of its shops since April, while offering takeaway drinks in rental reusable cups on a trial basis, according to the official.

The report said about 91,000 single-use disposable cups are thrown away every hour in the Japanese cafe sector alone.

“With most of them being incinerated, or, in the worst case, improperly disposed into the environment, combined action from the cafe sector and the government is urgently needed to end the flood of single-use cups and transition towards a system based on the mantra of ‘reduce, reuse, and refill,'” it added.

Tomohiro Tasaki, the head of the National Institute for Environmental Studies’ research on resource circulation and waste management, said one of the steps the coffee chains can immediately take to cut plastic waste is apparently switching to reusable cups for dine-in service.

“They should be able to promote the shift to reusable cups reasonably smoothly by introducing a new sales system such as charging for disposable cups and giving discounts to customers using reusable ones,” he said.

Asian stock markets posted steep losses Thursday after Wall Street suffered one of its most significant crashes in two years.

Worries about consumer resilience and corporate profitability were exacerbated by disappointing earnings reports from retailers on Wednesday, leading to a volatile market.

Hong Kong’s stock price was down more than 3% on Thursday morning, while Tokyo’s was down about 2.5%.

After its disappointing first-quarter results, Chinese tech giant Tencent’s stock dropped more than eight percent in Hong Kong.

Thailand’s stock market had decreased for three consecutive sessions, losing almost 40 points or 2.4 percent. Thailand’s Stock Exchange now sits just below the 1,585-point plateau, but it is expected to stop the bleeding on Monday.

After losses from the financial sector and mixed results from the energy sector, the SET ended Friday slightly lower.

The SET index fell by 0.14 points or 0.01 percent to 1,584.38 after trading between 1,578.11 and 1,597.58. Shares traded at 22.376 billion worth 75.432 billion baht. There were 920 gainers and 872 losers, with 442 stocks finishing unchanged.

Elsewhere in the region, Australia posted its lowest jobless rate in 48 years. This potentially boosts Prime Minister Scott Morrison two days ahead of tightly contested federal elections.

According to the official statistics body, Australia’s unemployment rate fell to 3.9%, the lowest level since 1974.

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However, stocks in Sydney, Singapore, Shanghai, Seoul, and Taipei all fell, although Jakarta rose by over 2%.

Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management called Wednesday’s losses “the largest daily decline since June 2020.”

“The weakness occurred as Target’s earnings added fuel to the recession risk narrative,” he said.

Despite higher sales, earnings at Target, a big-box retailer focusing on North America, miss expectations by around 25%.

In results similar to Walmart’s, the company cited higher operating costs as a factor.

In response to the rising prices of food, gasoline, and other household staples, retailers said profits were under pressure, and some consumers avoided discretionary purchases.

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The Dow lost more than 1,150 points or 3.6%, the Nasdaq fell 4.7%, and all three major US indices dropped.

The European stock markets were also down.

Fawad Razaqzada at City Index says, “the big falls in shares of this retail…show the damage inflation is causing to their profit margins.”.

“What’s more, consumers are getting squeezed as well, and if they now start to cut back on spending, retailers could suffer even further,” he added.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the US central bank would raise interest rates until there is “clear and convincing” evidence that inflation is on the decline.