Unilever tea brand PG Tips will move to fully biodegradable, plant-based material in its tea bags over the course of 2018.
As part of an initial run, the new tea bags have been made using a new material that is 100% plant-based and 100% renewable. Unlike polypropylene, the material is made from corn starch and is fully biodegradable. The aim is that all the brand’s tea bags will use the material by the end of 2018.
PG Tips pyramid bags are currently made mostly with paper, with polypropylene used to seal the tea bag, a method used widely across the industry.
Unilever scientists have been exploring plant-based alternatives for PG Tips for some time and have already converted some ranges in Canada, Poland and Indonesia.
Unilever vice president of refreshment Noel Clarke said: “Tea is the most consumed beverage after water in the UK with 10 billion PG Tips tea bags made every year, and after 85 years of making PG Tips, we have a great understanding on how Brits love their tea.
“The new 100% plant-based material we’re moving to is an innovation based on cutting edge science and technology and we’re all really excited that starting from now the PG Tips that you know and love will come from 100% plant-based material from a renewable source that’s fully biodegradable.”
Mike Falconer Hall, organics programme manager at Waste and Resources Action Programme, 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.
“If you have a food waste recycling collection in your area, you can put your used tea bags in there. Alternatively, you could pop it into your home composter. However, our climate means it can take a long time to break down, so you may want to sieve out the leftover part of your tea bag and discard it or dig in with the compost.”
The move follows the announcement by supermarket Co-op last month which unveiled a fully biodegradable tea bag, which it said “could save nine tonnes of plastic every year from being dumped into household rubbish and compost collections”.
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