There aren’t many things that can beat a nice cup of tea, but all is not what it seems. Some teabags actually contain plastic, so in affect, you could be drinking plastic.
Polypropylene is apparently added to the paper teabag to help heat seal them during manufacture so they don’t come open in the box, or in your cup. It also means though that these teabags aren’t 100% biodegradable, which is a bit of problem in that those teabags you are composting are leaving microplastics in the soil.
Green lifestyle blogger Wendy at Moral Fibres contacted a few of the main tea-makers to see if they could confirm whether they still use polypropylene in their teabags and to see which tea bags are plastic free.
Here’s what she found:
- Teapigs got back to me first (within minutes) to let me know that all of their teabags are made from a by-product of corn starch known as Soilon. The box that they are sold in does appear to contain some plastic though, so if that is an issue then this may not be your solution.
- Taylors of Harrogate (who also make Yorkshire Tea and Betty’s Tea) say that “we can confirm that we are working with our supplier of teabag paper to develop a paper that is 100% plant-based, but right now our tea bags do contain polypropylene as part of the fibres“.
- Twinings have several different types of teabags available on the market. They say that “our standard teabags, used for Earl Grey and English Breakfast, to name a couple, and many of our infusions and Green teas are produced from a natural plant based cellulose material and contain no plastic in the fibres. However, these teabags are “heat sealed” tea bags, and so the paper also has a very thin film of polypropylene, a plastic, which enables the two layers of the tea bags to be sealed together“. Meanwhile their ‘string and tag with sachet’ tea bags, also contain a thin layer of plastic polyethylene to help seal up the sachets. The only Twinings product that doesn’t contain any plastic is their pyramid teabag range – whereby the material is derived from maize starch and is fully biodegradable and compostable. Rather annoyingly though, many of their pyramid tea bags seem to come in plastic bags rather than boxes.
- Pukka Tea told me their teabags do not contain polypropylene or any other plastic – their teabag is sewn shut by machine with cotton thread. They even went on to say their teabag paper is made of a blend of natural abaca (a type of banana) and plant cellulose fibres, and their supply of tea bag paper is also Totally Chlorine Free and unbleached. They are staple-free and 100% biodegradable and/or recyclable. The tea bag strings are made from 100% organic, non-GMO, un-bleached cotton. Each teabag is individually packaged though (possibly in plastic), so the one downside is that there is a bit of waste from one box of tea.
- PG Tips say their “teabags are made with 80% paper fibre which is fully compostable along with the tea leaves contained in the bag. The remaining packaging includes a small amount of plastic which is not fully biodegradable: this is needed to create a seal to keep the tea leaves inside the bag“. However, they didn’t have the information to state whether or not this was polypropylene.
- Tetley also say their round and square teabags are made with 80% paper fibre, and 20% thermoplastic. Their string & tag teabags are plastic free – but are used mostly in their catering range for individually wrapped tea bags. They have said that “Tata Global Beverages has ongoing continuous improvement and environmental awareness. We are working towards more sustainable and biodegradable solutions for all our products”. They also advised that ripping the bag and dispersing the contents should help the composting process.
- Clipper confirmed via Twitter that they do use plastic in their teabags, saying that “Currently, the filter paper in our pillow tea bags does contain polypropylene to provide the heat-seal function“. A reader also pointed out that in their FAQs it states “Square “pillow” bags do have a very thin layer of polypropylene plastic to enable the bags to be sealed, but in your compost bin this will break down into teeny tiny pieces”, which I think is a poor show given the well documented impacts of microplastics in our soils and seas.
- Typhoo have so far declined to comment. I’ll update as and when they do. (Dec 17 edit – 6 months on they still haven’t commented).
So whilst Teapigs, Pukka Tea, Twinings Pyramid tea bags and Tetley’s catering range are plastic free, in pretty much all cases the packaging is not. The teas are also on the more expensive side. I find these types of tea are nice for a treat, but may be a little pricey to enjoy as your everyday cup of tea. Especially if you have a prolific tea habit.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Email or tweet the tea companies to ask them if they have stopped using plastic in their teabags, and if not, when are they going to stop. If enough people do this the companies will take notice.
The article at Moral Fibres has since been updated (8th April 2018) – it can be found https://moralfibres.co.uk/is-there-plastic-in-your-tea/
