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With the current increased scrutiny on single-use plastics in their supply chain, tea and coffee companies are scrambling to eliminate plastic from their products and prove their environmental credentials. teapigs are ahead of the game. Unlike other major brands, their tea temples have never contained plastic and they were the first tea company to gain the plastic free trust mark by A Plastic Planet.

Louise Cheadle, teapigs’ co-founder and tea-taster, says:

“There has been a lot of consumer interest lately (and rightly so) in the shocking revelation that many teabags contain plastic. The food and drink industry in general has a responsibility to move away from the use of unrecyclable plastic and to ensure that its production practices are sustainable in the long-term.

We have had lots of concerned customers contacting us over the years and we wanted to put their minds at ease: our tea “temples” have never contained plastic. We use a compostable mesh bag made from cornstarch to hold our whole leaf teas, the outer packs are FSC certified cardboard and the clear inner bag is Natureflex (looks like plastic but it’s made from woodpulp). Thanks to this we were certified plastic free by A Plastic Planet in 2018 and we’re continuously looking at ways we can lead the way with our packaging, reducing our environmental impact even more along the way.”

To help eco-conscious consumers and stockists alike, teapigs packs have a breakdown printed on them – in vegetable ink of course – explaining what each part of the packaging is made from and what to do with them after use.

teapigs’ pack cartons…

teapigs packs are made from FSC certified paper board which means that the forests from which the wood is originally sourced are sustainably managed. The cartons are reusable, recyclable, and biodegradable. The ink used on the cartons is vegetable-based.

Clear inner bags inside teapigs cartons…

teapigs use clear inner bags inside their cartons to keep the tea “temples” fresh and now use a material called Natureflex. Made from renewable wood pulp, the Natureflex bags are fully compostable. All teapigs tea temples have been packed inside Natureflex inner bags since 2017 but, as with all major production changes, some older bags may remain on product shelves. The older inner bags are made from polypropylene, which is widely recycled and can be put in with your plastic recycling.

teapigs tea “temples” have never contained plastic. The temples and string attached are made from corn starch, a natural carbohydrate extracted from corn. The label on the string is made from paper, the ink is vegetable-based and everything is sealed with heat so no glue is used at all. As a result, teapigs tea temples are fully compostable with council food waste collection.