The Ultimate Guide to UK Plastic Free Tea Bags
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Are your tea bags really plastic free and biodegradable?
We investigate what makes a tea bag biodegradable and plastic free. Yes, it's super confusing, because even when tea companies say their bags are 'biodegradable' or 'plant-based', it can still contain a type of bioplastic (PLA)
Greenwashing Tea
The realisation that our teabags contain plastic has gone mainstream, and the hunt has been on to find a truly plastic-free tea bag. But buyer's beware as a wave of greenwashing (misleading information to make us think its more eco-friendly than it actually is) is only confusing us further.
Why was there even plastic in tea?
Plastic found its use into traditional tea bags to fuse the paper material together to ensure your bag didn't split when making your brew. However using this method means the teabag is about 25% plastic, and isn't biodegradable or compostable.
Whats the alternative?
In 2019 New Scientist magazine also urged us to switch from plastic teabags after reporting that 11.6 billion microplastics are released from just 1 bag [1]. The obvious alternative is to use loose leaf tea, but for those that enjoy the convenience of a tea bag, which is best?
Sustainable tea bags
The Use of PLA (Bioplastic) in Tea
The good news is there are some companies who were already ahead of the curve when it comes making plastic free teabags. (You'll see who on our tea chart below), and even the mainstream brands are pushing to replace the petroleum-based plastic component of their teabags. The material many of them are using to replace the plastic is a plant-based material called PLA to seal or make their teabags. PLA is short for polylactic acid, which is biodegradable plastic substitute (bioplastic) typically made from corn and other renewable plant sources, so its far more sustainable than plastic derived from fossil-fuels, however it still has some limitations.
| Benefits of PLA | Limitations of PLA |
|---|---|
| 🌱 Made from renewable plants instead of petrochemicals from fossil fuels | 🌱 Not suitable for home composting |
| 🌱 Manufacturing uses less energy (about 60% less) and creates fewer greenhouse gas emissions (about 60% less) than traditional plastic | 🌱 Not accepted at many commercial composting facilities |
| 🌱 Tested to be non-toxic | 🌱 Could take 100-1000 years to breakdown in landfill |
| 🌱 Can break down in industrial composting facilities in 3 – 6 months | 🌱 Will not break down in marine envrionments - same as plastic |
| 🌱 May not improve the quality of the compost or soil (more analysis and research is needed) | |
| 🌱 Confuses consumers - could contaminate if put in with plastic recycling |
If they contain any amount of PLA they need to go in your food waste bin so they can be industrial composted. They cannot be home composted in your own garden, even if some companies make it seem like you can (which they sure do)! Watch out for certain terms - as it could still include PLA.
So what happens once it reaches the industrial composting facility? A fascinating article by Bioplastics News called What Happens to Bioplastics at Industrial Composting Sites reveals "PLA is usually not liked and not welcomed by industrial composters. It takes too long for PLA to degrade. No composting facilities will accept and compost PLA in Belgium. However when PLA is used with other compostable materials and it’s in small quantity it may compost on time". They also provide examples of some common items made with small amounts of PLA that are accepted and degrade, and items that are made purely of PLA that do not degrade.
So in an ideal world we want as little PLA as possible to ensure it has the most chance of properly degrading in the industrial composting facility it goes to. Some companies are making teabags using a mixture of paper or plant fibres with PLA (in replacement of traditional plastic), and some are making teabags entirely from PLA. So if you're going to use a PLA teabag we would recommend one that is primarily paper or cellulose based rather than 100% PLA. However, some brands are avoiding PLA altogether by just using a cotton stitch to seal their bags.
Which tea bags do not contain plastic?
So without further ado - here's the scores on the teabags. All bags are rated out of 12 across 6 categories: tea bag material, inner and outer packaging, disposal, waste and ethics. You can also see how the scoring works below the chart.
| Tea Brand | Score | Teabag | Inner Packaging | Outer Packaging | Teabag Disposal | Zero Waste | Ethics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neal's Yard Herbal Tea | 12 | ✅ Oxygen-bleached abaca, organic cotton stitch | ✅ Recyclable paper envelopes (FSC & PEFC certified) with inner seal adhesive | ✅ Cardboard (FSC Certified) | ✅ Home compost or food waste | ✅ | Organic Soil Association, Fairwild, Certified Carbon Neutral, Ethical Award, Cruelty Free International (2) |
| Hampstead Tea | 11 | ✅ Unbleached paper (wood pulp, plant cellulose fibres) organic cotton stitch | 🟠 Recyclable paper (FSC Certified) envelopes with heat-seal coating | ✅ Cardboard (FSC Certified) | ✅ Home compost or food waste | ✅ | Organic, Fairtrade, Demeter Biodynamic Certification (2) |
| Clipper (Envelope String & Tag) | 10 | ✅ Unbleached paper (wood pulp, plant cellulose fibres) organic cotton stich, paper tag | 🟠 Recyclable paper envelopes with heat-seal coating | ✅ Cardboard (FSC Certified) | ✅ Home compost or food waste | ✅ | Organic, Fairtrade (1) |
| Dragonfly Tea (String & Tag) | 10 | ✅ Unbleached paper (wood pulp, plant cellulose fibres) organic cotton stich, paper tag | 🟠 Recyclable paper envelopes with heat-seal coating | ✅ Cardboard (FSC Certified) | ✅ Home compost or food waste | ✅ | Organic, Rainforest Alliance, UKTIA, Slow Food (1) |
| Brew Tea Co. | 9 | ❌ PLA (soilon/cornstarch), paper tag, cotton | ✅ NatureFlex (home compostable) | ✅ Cardboard (FSC Certified) | 🟠 Food waste bin | ✅ | Certified B Corp, Rainforest Alliance, Ethical Tea Partnership (2) |
| Tea People | 9 | ❌ PLA (soilon/cornstarch), paper tag, cotton | ✅ NatureFlex (home compostable) | ✅ Cardboard (FSC Certified) | 🟠 Food waste bin | ✅ | Social Enterprise (2) |
| Twist Teas | 8 | ❌ PLA (cornsilk) | ✅ NatureFlex (home compostable) | ✅ Cardboard Cardboard (FSC Certified) or reusable/recyclable tinplate caddies | 🟠 Food waste bin | ✅ | Certified B Corp, Ethical Tea Partnership (2) |
| Teapigs | 8 | ❌ PLA (soilon/cornstarch), paper tag | ✅ NatureFlex (home compostable) | ✅ Cardboard (FSC Certified), vegetable-based inks) | 🟠 Food waste bin | ✅ | Rainforest Alliance, Ethical Tea Partnership (1) |
| Pukka | 8 | ✅ Unbleached paper (wood pulp, abaca, plant cellulose fibres), organic cotton stitch | 🟠 Recyclable paper envelopes (FSC certified) with heat-seal coating (BPA & PVC free) | ✅ Cardboard (FSC Certified + vegetable-based inks) | ✅ Home compost or food waste | ✅ | Organic, Fairwild, Fair for Life Fairtrade, 1% for the Planet (Owned by Unilever) (-1) |
| Yorkshire Tea (Boxed) | 5 | 🟠 75% woodpulp and abaca or rayon (made from wood pulp), 25% PLA (currently switching) | ✅ None | ❌ Cardboard (FSC Certified) and plastic wrap | 🟠 Food waste bin | ❌ Plastic wrap | Certified B Corp, Ethical Tea Partnership, Rainforest Alliance Certified, Sustainable Restaurant Association (1) |
| Clipper Tea | 5 | 🟠 Unbleached paper (wood pulp, abaca, plant cellulose), PLA | ❌ Plastic-laminated foil | ✅ Cardboard (FSC Certified) | 🟠 Food waste bin | ❌ Plastic-laminated foil | - (0) |
| PG Tips | 3 | ❌ PLA (cornstarch) | ✅ None | ❌ Cardboard (PEFC Certified), plastic wrap | 🟠 Food waste bin | ❌ Plastic wrap | Certified Carbon Neutral, Ethical Tea Partnership, Rainforest Alliance Certified (1) |
| Twinings String & Tag | 2 | ❌ Paper and cellulose binder, cotton, plastic-lined tag | ❌ Plastic-lined envelopes (non-recyclable) | 🟠 Cardboard | 🟠 Food waste bin | ❌ Tag and envelopes | Organic, Fairtrade (1) |
| Twinings Pyramid | 2 | ❌ PLA, plastic-lined tag | ❌ Plastic-lined envelopes (non-recyclable) | 🟠 Cardboard | 🟠 Food waste bin | ❌ Tag and envelopes | Ethical Tea Partnership, Rainforest Alliance Certified (0) |
| Tetley | 2 | ❌ Paper, plastic | ✅ None | ❌ Plastic-lined paper | ❌ Landfilll bin | ❌ Teabag and plastic-lined packaging | Ethical Tea Partnership, Sourced with Care, Partnership with Wateraid and Care International (0) |
| Twinings Standard | 1 | ❌ Paper and cellulose binder, plastic | ❌ Plastic-laminated foil | 🟠 Cardboard | ❌ Landfill bin | ❌ Teabag and plastic-laminated foil | Ethical Tea Partnership, Sourced with Care, Partnership with Wateraid and Care International (0) |
How We Scored the Teabags
| Category | ✅ 2 Points | 🟠 1 Point | ❌ 0 Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teabag Material | No plastic or PLA | Minimal PLA but no plastic | With plastic or 100% PLA |
| Inner Packaging | No plastic + 100% home compostable | 100% recyclable | With plastic + not recyclable |
| Outer Packaging | FSC Certified Cardboard | Cardboard | With plastic |
| Teabag Disposal | Home Compostable | Food Waste Bin | Landfill Bin |
| Zero Landfill Waste | Zero Waste | - | Waste |
| Ethics | Over and above | Fair | or (-1) for known ethical issues |
The Best Plastic Free Tea Bags
Here's our top picks for plastic free tea bags - you'll notice many of them have a range of tea flavours to choose from too. We recommend stocking up to get the free delivery wherever possible, which also means less CO2 from multiple deliveries - win-win!
A Final Note on Honesty & Communication
After reading up and contacting several tea companies one thing that really stood out was the difference in the transparency and honesty on the materials used in their teabags and how to dispose of them properly. For example, PG Tips have recently switched to 'plant-based and biodegradable' tea bags and after contacting them several times for more information they have gone no further than saying they are derived from a plant-based material from corn. It is without a doubt this would be PLA, however they do not mention this on their website once. Although they do recommend putting it in the food waste bin in the first instance (which is the only method that will ensure it properly biodegrades), they also say 'Don’t worry if you don’t have one! You can also dispose of your used tea bags in your home composter, but this takes a bit longer to compost. Or, if you really need to, you can dispose of them in the general waste bin.' Technically they are covering themselves, but it's giving the wrong impression to consumers as it will not have the correct conditions to fully degrade and will actually behave a lot like traditional plastic when disposed of in this way.
Compare this to when I called Hampstead Tea, where I was met with so much honesty and transparency, they even emailed the full spec sheets over to me! I think ultimately this is why I wanted to put out this post - to really cut through the confusion and greenwashing with certain tea brands, so that we can see who really does brew the best tea!
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