---
title: "Welcoming Starbucks Is Adding Needle-Disposal Boxes, Report Says"
description: "Starbucks Corp. -- recognizing it’s often a safe space for the most vulnerable visitors -- has installed needle-disposal boxes in some locations."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Bloomberg"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/bloomberg/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-04-22-welcoming-starbucks-is-adding-needle-disposal-boxes-report-says/"
published: "2019-04-22T22:27:13"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 134
---

# Welcoming Starbucks Is Adding Needle-Disposal Boxes, Report Says

> Starbucks Corp. -- recognizing it’s often a safe space for the most vulnerable visitors -- has installed needle-disposal boxes in some locations.

By Bloomberg · Published 23 April 2019, 00:27 SAST

## Content

The coffee giant has added the boxes in at least two dozen U.S. markets, Business Insider reported. The company did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The chain has been training employees to treat anyone who walks in the door as a customer, whether they intend to make a purchase or not. The policy move followed a highly publicized confrontation in Philadelphia last April where a store manager called police on two black patrons. The open-door policy offers a fresh set of challenges, employees have said, from more homeless or mentally ill visitors and even a surprise bathroom birth.

Workers called for the chain to install needle-collection boxes in its bathrooms as employees have reported finding blood and needles, Business Insider reported, citing an Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation. DM