Image caption, Georgia enjoyed a Lotta Colada on her way to watch Harry Styles
ByRowenna HoskinBBC Wales- Published1 minute ago
Cleaning up after pre-drinks, Aédén Rooney puts his empty BuzzBallz in the recycling.
"It's plastic and metal, so I'd just assume it's recyclable," he said.
The company behind the bright, pre-mixed cocktails that have taken Gen Z by storm said they were recyclable on its website, but experts say this is not true.
BuzzBallz cannot be recycled as the PET plastic ball cannot be separated from the aluminium lid, global environmental action body WRAP said.
"It's greenwashing. I'm shocked," Aédén said.
BuzzBallz blamed a website error for claiming they were recyclable via Terracycle, a US-only scheme, but did not comment on its now-deleted FAQ that said they were recyclable where UK councils allow.
Image source, Aédén RooneyImage caption, Aédén Rooney said he drinks about three BuzzBallz a week during term time
Rooney, 21, is a student at Cardiff University and drinks at least two to three BuzzBallz every week during term time.
He's far from the only one.
BuzzBallz was named the fastest-growing alcohol brand in The Grocer's Britain's Biggest Alcohol Brands 2026 ranking.
Rooney thinks they are popular because they are "strong, they're cheap for the amount of alcohol and the price you're paying - it's a no brainer".
Image caption, BuzzBallz were created by school teacher Merrilee Kick but bought by Sazerac in 2024
BuzzBallz was founded by teacher Merrilee Kick, but was bought by the Sazerac Company, whose CEO is Jake Wenz, in 2024.
BuzzBallz's UK's mission statement, which was deleted after the BBC contacted the company about this story, said it "loves our planet as much as we love a good cocktail" and partnered with TerraCycle to ensure its packaging gets recycled.
However, TerraCycle, which involves consumers collecting packaging and sending it to be recycled, only runs the BuzzBallz scheme in the United States.
BuzzBallz's UK FAQs, now also deleted, stated: "Yes, our packaging is recyclable. Please recycle your empties where local facilities allow."
But no local facilities anywhere in the UK allow BuzzBallz to be recycled, said Adam Herriott, the head of packaging at WRAP.
"They're a mix of two very recyclable materials that put together makes an unrecyclable format.
"No local authorities will accept these at the kerbside.
"If they end up at a sorting facility, they could end up contaminating the plastic stream because of the metals in there and that could be very problematic for plastics recyclers that get into the machinery."
But why should people care if their drink packaging is not recyclable?
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Recycling is taken to local Material Recovery Facilities to sort
"Plastic is a finite resource, and it's traditionally from a fossil-derived product as well, it comes from oil," Herriott said.
Recycling aluminium, which can be done infinitely, means less is being extracted from bauxite mines, which have huge impacts on communities and the environment from habitat destruction, contamination of soil and harm to human health.
Image caption, The popular drinks are often seen littered around
Even the shape of the BuzzBallz make it harder to be recycled because they can roll on the conveyor belts at the sorting facilities, said Herriott.
Among the machinery used, scanners can identify it in one position, but by the time air jets are used to separate it into the right recycling stream, it could have moved, meaning it could contaminate other streams.
"It's definitely one of the villains of recycling," said Ambarish Mitra, co-founder of Greyparrot, a waste analytics company which helps recovery facilities.
He said BuzzBallz have "have no recovery route in the current system" and "is a huge pet peeve for our customers and us".
After analysing a plastic recover facility in Manchester with a processing capacity of 35,000 tonnes of plastic a year, for six months, the company found that BuzzBallz contaminated recycled plastic 66% of the time.
"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.
"This isn't a recycling problem. It's a packaging problem."
BuzzBallz refused to comment.
Image source, Susie LoweImage caption, Laura Anderson says the only way to separate the metal lid from the plastic would be with a sharp knife, which would be very dangerous
Environmental scientist and campaigner Laura Anderson, known online as LessWasteLaura, said most people would assume Buzzballz could be recycled.
Anderson said consumers were unlikely to find clear advice, even if they tried: "When you go to your council's recycling website there isn't a drop-down option for a plastic-metal can. How am I supposed to figure that out?"
Anderson described the company's messaging as "misleading" and "greenwashing".
"I would rather they just said, 'this can't be recycled widely, please just put it in the bin'. Because actually that is really probably what most people should be doing with them.
"If a company cared about sustainability, they could make these products in a fully aluminium can and still have the colours, the branding and the quirky design."
Image source, Talking Rubbish PodcastImage caption, James Piper said he would never recommend cutting packaging as it creates a hazard for those in recycling facilities
James Piper, co-host of the Talking Rubbish podcast, co-owner of Ecosurety, said he dislikes BuzzBallz because of how difficult they are to recycle.
"Every stage of the recycling journey has been designed around predictable packaging," Piper said. "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."
"There's nothing environmentally positive about mixing packaging types."
He said the BuzzBallz 'biggies' which have a plastic screw top lid is completely recyclable.
"Anyone can say on their website 'this is recyclable where your council allows'. But if no council allows it, then it doesn't mean anything," he said.
BuzzBallz said: "We very recently went through a global website update and the information pertaining to TerraCycle recycling for BuzzBallz was incorrectly copied and does not apply to the UK market as of today.
"We apologise for the oversight and have since updated our website to reflect the correct position for UK consumers."
The company refused to comment on the now-deleted UK FAQs stating its packaging was recyclable.
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