Country Living reveal which tea bag brands do and don't have plastic in their bags. Luckily, there are a number of tea bags which are plastic-free...

Drinking tea is a very British tradition – so much so that we consume 60.2 billion cups of tea each year, according to the UK Tea and Infusions Association.

And most of us tea-drinkers choose tea bags rather than tea leaves – 96% in fact.

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But are you aware that some tea bags actually contain plastic? Several tea bag brands use polypropylene, a sealing plastic, to keep their tea bags from falling apart. This plastic is not recyclable or biodegradable.

So, even when you put all your used tea bags in the food waste or compost heap, it can lead to plastic pollution, as not all of it will be broken down.

2 tea bag problems to be aware of:

paper tea bags sealed with a plastic glue that makes them non-recyclable or compostable

plastic tea bags (the actual bag is made out of plastic, not paper) that begin to breakdown when put into hot water

And that's not the only problem, recent research from McGill University in Canada also found that some types of tea bag leak millions of plastic particles into our drinks not only from the sealing plastic but from the bag itself.

Tea bag made from plastic material: left | Tea bag made from paper (could have plastic sealant): right: Country Living

This problem is linked to tea bags where the actual bag itself is made out of plastic material, not the paper bags that are more common. These plastic tea bags are more often linked to the higher end brands.

The scientists found that one plastic tea bag releases around 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 bollion smaller nanoplastic particles into the cup. The findings were published in the Journal of Environmental Science & Technology.

What are brands doing about it? (In alphabetical order)

ABEL & COLE

Abel & Cole, a delivery service for organic food and drink produce, are proud to have completely plastic-free tea bags – instead they are made using SoilOn. The tea bags themselves are completely biodegradable and the packaging they come in is made using paper and biodegradable PE and is oxo-biodegradable. On their website, they say: "SoilOn is a corn-starch which incorporates biomass material (polylactic acid) originating from plants. And, the best bit is that’s biodegradable and certified by The Soil Association through EU organic regulation. They’re also glue free as they’re sealed together with heat."

CLIPPER

Clipper announced in October 2018 that they had created what they believe to be the first ever completely plastic-free bag, made using natural plant-based materials. With these, you simply make your cup of tea as usual before putting the tea bag in your food waste bin or compost.

On their website, they say: "Now we’ve developed an unbleached, plastic-free, non-GM tea bag, there’s no stopping us! We’re working on a number of green packaging options, including reducing our packaging weight and improving our recyclability."

Tea bags with plastic:

This information is based on our research and may have changed since publication.

❗️PG Tips



❗️Tetley

❗️Twinings 'heat-sealed' and 'string and tag' ranges

❗️Yorkshire Tea

❗️Lidl own brand

Tea bags without plastic:

✅ Abel & Cole

✅ Clipper

✅ Co-op own brand 99

✅ Pukka Herbs

✅ Teapigs

✅ Twinings pyramid range

✅ Waitrose Duchy range





CO-OP

On their website it says: "Our famous Co-op 99 tea will be developed without polypropylene, which is an industry-wide method used to enable teabags to hold their shape. This could save nine tonnes of plastic every year from being dumped into household rubbish and compost collections."

LIDL

We got in touch with Lidl to ask about their own brand tea bags, which are not currently 100% plastic-free but are biodegradable. Lidl told Country Living:

“Our pyramid teabags are made from 100% bio-plastic and are fully biodegradable. The vast majority of the composition of our round tea bags are biodegradable, with approximately just 1-2% of non-biodegradable polymers, used to help create the seal. We are continuing to work with our suppliers to explore alternative, fully biodegradable polymers that can be used instead. Our industry partner, WRAP, also encourages consumers to put this type of tea bag into home composting containers, as there will only be a very small amount of residue left afterwards."

PG TIPS

In April 2018, PG tips announced that it will move to 100% biodegradable tea bags. On their website it says: "We’re committed to moving all our pyramid® bags to a new fully biodegradable, plant-based material. We’ve already made over 1 BILLION!"

Look carefully on the packaging to see if they are the new variety of bags.

PUKKA HERBS

Pukka Herbs tea bags are free of plastic, tied together with organic cotton and are fully compostable. On their website, they say: "Pukka doesn’t use this kind of material. Instead, we use a simple stitch of organic cotton and a unique folding process. This means we don’t need to use polypropylene to hold our teabags together and our teabags are therefore free from plastic. We were the first company to ever use organic strings to hold our teabags together without the need of a metal staple or polypropylene."

TEAPIGS

Teapigs products are plastic-free and biodegradable.

On their website they say: "Our tea temples have always been plastic-free. Made from corn-starch and 100% biodegradable – you can pop them in with your food waste collection where they will break down within 12 weeks (best avoid putting them in home compost, as they do need high heat and pressure to break down - which won't be met at home). Late last year we also switched our inner plastic bag (that keeps your tea nice and fresh) to a new wonder material called Natureflex which is made from wood pulp and suitable for home composting – total game changer!"

TETLEY

Despite claiming to be 99% biodegradable, Tetley tea bags do contain a small amount of aplastic.



On their website they say: We’ve worked hard to ensure that our tea bags are 99% bio degradable. However, as a result of the manufacturing process, Tetley tea bags do contain a very small amount of plastic to ensure the bags remain closed for you to enjoy your cup of tea.

TWININGS

Our research suggests that Twinings' claim their loose leaf pyramid tea bag range does not contain plastic and is fully biodegradable. However, their 'heat-sealed' and 'string and tag' ranges do include plastic. Visit their website to make enquiries.

WAITROSE



As far as our research suggests, their Duchy range is plastic-free and biodegradable. Check packaging for details.

YORKSHIRE TEA

Yorkshire tea is currently making the switch to renewable plant-based material. On their website, they say: "The plastic we’ve been using to seal our tea bags is going to be replaced with a renewable plant-based material. We’re starting to switch over now, and the aim is that all our UK tea bags will have switched by the end of 2019."

For any brands not mentioned, check their website or customer care contact.

100% PLASTIC-FREE TEA ALTERNATIVES

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