The photograph hereunder accompanying this post shows several small ready-to-drink alcohol and cocktail containers of a kind increasingly found discarded on streets, roadsides and public spaces around Thurles and other Irish towns. They include round aluminium BuzzBallz cocktail cans and plastic miniature bottles used for spirits or cocktail mixes.
BuzzBallz containers sold hereunder in Ireland are imported American products, rather than drinks manufactured in Ireland.
Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme accepts aluminium and steel drinks cans, and PET plastic drinks bottles, holding between 150ml and three litres. However, a container must be registered in the Irish scheme and normally carry the Re-turn logo and an appropriate barcode. It must also be empty, undamaged and retain its original shape. Therefore, although a BuzzBallz container may be made from aluminium and fall within the correct volume range, an imported or unregistered version without the required Irish markings will be rejected by a Reverse Vending Machine. Miniature glass bottles and bottles made from plastics other than PET are also outside the scheme.
This creates an obvious weakness. Consumers have become accustomed to receiving a deposit refund for cans and bottles. When an unusually shaped container or miniature bottle is rejected, some people may simply abandon it beside the machine or throw it on the street. That behaviour is completely unacceptable, but manufacturers, importers, retailers and the operators of the recycling system must also recognise the emerging problem.
Retailers selling these products should provide clearly marked recycling bins and explain how each container should be disposed of. Producers and importers should also be required, wherever technically possible, to register eligible aluminium containers with Re-turn. Attractive, brightly coloured, single-serving packaging should not become tomorrow’s litter merely because it falls through a gap in the system.
There is also a public-health issue. The BuzzBallz Strawberry ’Rita, shown, is a small 200ml drink, but it contains 13.5% alcohol by volume. Despite its compact, colourful appearance, that represents approximately two Irish standard drinks in one container. The manufacturer lists more than 230 calories and almost 20 grams of carbohydrate in a single Strawberry ’Rita.
These products can taste sweet and fruity, potentially disguising their alcoholic strength. Drinking several in a short period could cause rapid intoxication, impaired judgement, accidents, blackouts or alcohol poisoning. The HSE advises adults not to consume more than six standard drinks on any one occasion. Its weekly low-risk guidance is no more than 11 standard drinks for women or 17 for men, spread across the week, with at least two or three alcohol-free days. These are low-risk limits, not completely safe limits.
It should also be made clear that alcohol may only be sold to people aged 18 or over in Ireland – not 16. Alcohol is a carcinogen, and the HSE states that it increases the risk of at least seven cancers, including cancers of the breast, bowel, liver, mouth and throat. The less alcohol consumed, the lower the risk.
Towns across Ireland should not have to choose between cleaner streets and convenient novelty drinks. Every container placed on the market should have a practical, clearly explained route back into recycling and every consumer must take responsibility for using it.
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