PG tips tea bags will now be plastic-free and 100% biodegradable

Unilever, the company which makes one of Britain’s bestselling brands of tea, has announced it will remove plastic in all its tea bags.

Current tea bags made across the industry use a small amount of polypropylene to help seal the bag shut. PG tips, which sells over 100 million packets of tea each year, will now ensure its bags are made from corn starch that is 100 percent renewable and biodegradable.

The company has a history of sustainability, having been the first major UK tea brand to sell fully Rainforest Alliance certified black and green teas.

However, this latest move was prompted by a gardener who started an online petition against plastic in tea bags. Michael Armitage was motivated to start the campaign after finding that tea bags were ruining his compost heap. The Wrexham gardener was shocked to discover plastic was used in the bags; the petition recently reached over 200,000 signatures.

“I never believed in a million years there could be plastics used in tea bags. I always assumed they were fully compostable and were just made of paper,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

Mike Falconer Hall, organics programme manager at WRAP, a UK-based waste charity, said “we’re keen to see the UK’s tea drinkers recycle their tea bags and it’s great to hear that PG tips is helping them to do this with the introduction of their new fully biodegradable tea bag”.

Noel Clarke, a vice president at Unilever, said that “the new 100 percent plant based material we’re moving to is an innovation based on cutting edge science and technology”.

The first plastic-free tea bags will hit the shelves as of next week, and Unilver is aiming use the new material in all its bags by the end of 2018.

“We’re all really excited that starting from now, the PG tips that you know and love will come from 100 percent plant based material from a renewable source that’s fully biodegradable”, Mr Clarke added.

The news follows a similar announcement from the Co-op food retailer earlier this year that it would also remove plastic from its tea bags.

 

Photo Credit: Thought Catalog