Cocktail packaging 'unrecyclable' as it takes young drinkers by storm

The popular BuzzBallz alcoholic drinks, a hit with young consumers, are facing scrutiny over their packaging, which experts say is virtually unrecyclable in the UK.

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They're a mix of two very recyclable materials that put together makes an unrecyclable format.

While BuzzBallz's UK mission statement previously claimed to "love our planet as much as we love a good cocktail" and mentioned a partnership with TerraCycle for recycling, this scheme only operates in the United States. Deleted FAQs also stated the packaging was recyclable "where local facilities allow," but no UK facilities accept it.

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It's definitely one of the villains of recycling.

Adam Herriott, head of packaging at WRAP, explained that the packaging is made from a mix of two recyclable materials that, when combined, create an "unrecyclable format." He noted that the unique shape of the BuzzBallz containers also makes them difficult to sort at recycling facilities, potentially contaminating other plastic recycling streams due to the presence of metals.

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Once in the plastic stream, the aluminium reduces the quality of the recycled plastic, while the colour pigments can lower the recycled plastic bale's value.

Ambarish Mitra, co-founder of waste analytics company Greyparrot, described BuzzBallz packaging as "one of the villains of recycling" with "no recovery route in the current system." An analysis of a plastic recovery facility found BuzzBallz contaminated recycled plastic 66% of the time, reducing the quality and value of the recycled material. James Piper, co-owner of Ecosurety, criticized the company for creating packaging that complicates the recycling journey for marketing reasons, stating, "There's nothing environmentally positive about mixing packaging types."

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Every stage of the recycling journey has been designed around predictable packaging. When people come along and say, 'I'm going to make something different for marketing reasons', they are automatically making it more difficult for the recycler.