By drinking Hampstead Tea, you’ve helped us reduce plastic tea bag waste by 25 million this year alone. Wow! We’re so grateful to you for making a small swap that benefits your health and reduces microplastics in the environment.
Why do tea bags contain plastic?
You’ll be familiar with the square tea bag that looks like paper, but this form of tea bag always contains some kind of plastic and/or glue as it is heat sealed to keep the tea in the bag.
A few years back, many brands claimed to be plastic free as they switched to PLA (a bioplastic). They now use terms like ‘biodegradable’ or ‘unbleached’ to distract from the fact that they still use bioplastics. However, PLA only degrades in industrial composting facilities at over 200°C. And, PLA still releases microplastics.
Plastic in tea – why it matters
In December 2024, researchers at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) found that tea bags release between 8 million and 1.2 billion microplastic and nanoplastic particles per millimetre of boiling water. For the first time, scientists showed that the human intenstines absorb these particles.
Plastic-free tea bags – what we’re doing at Hampstead Tea
Kiran has always been passionate about reducing the environmental impact of tea – that’s why we started as a loose leaf first brand. When she decided to launch a better tea bag, she imported a machine from Italy that folds and stitches paper tea bags without needing to glue or heat seal plastic.
Our tea bags are made from unbleached paper with organic cotton string (because yes – sometimes string is also coated in plastic).
But what about your envelopes?
Our tea bags are packaged in a paper envelope with a thin coating of plastic free gloss that keeps the tea fresh and helps us reduce waste. We'd rather not have envelopes at all, but everything's a balance and our teas wouldn't taste so good or last so long without them.
🔍 How the tea industry gets away with greenwashing
Look out for these words, that tea companies often use to distract from their use of PLA:
✔ Cornstarch-based
✔ Plant-based
✔ Biodegradable
✔ Unbleached
To us, switching to plastic free tea bags is a no brainer. Especially as our tea is priced equal to other tea brands who use plastic, non-organic ingredients and additives.
Thank you so much for your support that helps regenerative tea gardens flourish, reduces plastic waste and supports a more resilient future.