BuzzBallz recycling claims face greenwashing backlash, experts say packaging is unrecyclable

BuzzBallz’s metal lid and plastic body are attached, and recycling experts say that design makes the cocktail containers unrecyclable in local systems. The drink has been pitched to young drinkers, but the packaging has become the flash point: experts say the brand’s recycling claims amount to greenwashing, the shorthand for misleading environmental claims.

TerraCycle has offered a BuzzBallz Free Recycling Program on its site, but the mail-back scheme is only open to people of legal drinking age. Before entry, the page asks users to confirm, “I am 21 years of age or older” or “I am under the age of 21.” A July 5, 2022 press release from TerraCycle and BuzzBallz said the companies were launching a free national recycling program for the brand’s aluminum and rigid plastic packaging, and that the program was being relaunched for the summer. A search-result summary for the scheme says it runs only in the United States.

The dispute goes to the center of a wider recycling problem: what brands call recyclable is often not what local systems can actually handle. TerraCycle says it exists to “recycle the unrecyclable,” but it also says curbside recyclability depends on whether local recycling companies can make a profit collecting and processing a material. The company adds that products advertised as recyclable, made with recycled content or described as compostable can be confusing and sometimes misleading.

That gap leaves BuzzBallz in a familiar position for consumer packaging sold on convenience and trend appeal. The containers may look simple enough to toss, but experts say the attached lid and body turn them into a dead end once they reach the bin. The green branding can travel farther than the material can.