84. The BrewDog forest - climate solution or greenwashing?

About this episode

The episode explores BrewDog's reforestation project and questions its sustainability and the company's claims of being carbon-negative.

In 2020, BrewDog made headlines with a bold promise; to plant Scotland’s largest forest and become the world’s first carbon-negative beer company. Five years later, the land has been sold, the carbon-negative pledges have quietly vanished, and the company itself is fighting for survival. So what happened? This week, we dig into the rise and fall of BrewDog’s ambitious reforestation project, and ask whether the planned forest was ever quite as sustainable as it claimed. Plus, are tree guards rubbish or not, are food waste disposal units a good idea, and does Robbie have slopey shoulders?

People in this episode

Hosts: Robbie, James Piper, Robbie Staniforth

Topics covered

• BrewDog
• climate change
• sustainability
• reforestation
• greenwashing
• food waste

Keywords

• BrewDog
• carbon-negative
• reforestation
• sustainability
• greenwashing
• food waste disposal

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BrewDog

Places: Scotland

More episodes of Talking Rubbish - The Recycling Podcast

• 98. Should we ban ‘plastic-free’ packaging? · June 11, 2026 · 60 min
• 97. Why we're getting reusable packaging wrong · June 4, 2026 · 60 min
• 96. How recycling is really funded · May 28, 2026 · 59 min
• 95. The tech that could end overpackaged boxes, with Jude Pullen · May 21, 2026 · 60 min
• 94. From Kindle to kindling - how Big Tech creates waste · May 14, 2026 · 60 min
• 93. The death of the barcode - a win for sustainability? · May 7, 2026 · 59 min