Drinking a nice hot cup of Joe couldn’t be the same without the infamous Starbucks symbol – the starch white paper cup with that familiar green stamp has become synonymous with status in the United States. Yet that logo has also become the grunt of eco-friendly enthusiasts everywhere who claim Starbucks isn’t doing enough to combat the world’s recycle and reuse issues.

Not any longer – the view has changed for the world renowned Seattle coffee company. Starbucks Coffee Company and International Paper partnered together for a six week trial to prove that their paper cups – million of which get thrown away every day – can be turned into brand new coffee holders. The move is part of the coffee chain’s plan to move toward totally recycled or reusable materials by 2015.

“This innovation represents an important milestone in our journey,” said Jim Hanna, Starbucks director of Environmental Impact. “We still have a lot of work to do to reach our 2015 goal, but we’re now in a much stronger position to build momentum across the recycling industry. Our next step is to test this concept in a major city, which we plan to do in collaboration with International Paper and Mississippi River in 2011.”

In conjunction with International Paper, the companies worked with Mississippi River Pulp, LLC for all the processing, which is the only pulp mill in the United States. This innovation will surely put a move in the right direction for Starbucks’ in the United States, but the question remains whether the collection processes, hauling and processing are as much of an eco-friendly process as pulling out brand new cups every day.