Teapigs Awarded Plastic-Free Trust Mark

Consumers have recently learned that many of the UK’s teabags contain plastic. Major teabag companies are now pledging to eliminate plastic from their teabags within the coming year. Teapigs tea brand is the first tea brand to be awarded the Plastic-Free Trust Mark by A Plastic Planet.

It was recently announced that 96% of the nation’s teabags contain plastic. Teapigs’ range of whole-leaf tea temples are already plastic free. “Our tea temples have always been biodegradable. They’re made from cornstarch and you can put them in your council food waste bins. Our temples are packaged in a clear inner bag to keep them fresh: late last year, we switched from a plastic inner bag to a material called Natureflex – it’s made from wood pulp so it’s 100% plant-based and compostable,” says Louise Cheadle, teapigs’ tea taster. “We’ve always tried to do the right thing and made these greener changes to our packaging as soon as they were available to us despite the increased cost.”

Cheadle adds, “We’re really pleased to have been accredited with A Plastic Planet’s Plastic-Free Trust Mark — it’ll make it easier for consumers to make the right decisions about the products they buy. There are so many logos on packaging these days and it can be confusing to know what they actually mean.”

The A Plastic Planet Trust Mark launched 16 May. Designed to sit clearly on the front of the pack, the Trust Mark will instantly inform and empower consumers to make plastic-free choices. The confusion around different logos and abundance of plastic packaging in the supermarkets means that those with innovative packaging will be nice and easy to spot. Trust Mark-accredited packaging will include materials such as carton board, wood pulp, glass, metal and certified-compostable biomaterials.

“Now we all know the damage our addiction to plastic has caused, we want to do the right thing and buy plastic-free. But it is harder than you think, and a clear no-nonsense label is much needed,” says A Plastic Planet co-founder Sian Sutherland. “Our Trust Mark cuts through the confusion of symbols and labels and tells you just one thing – this packaging is plastic-free and therefore guilt-free. Finally, shoppers can be part of the solution not the problem.”

Created by environmental campaign group A Plastic Planet, the world’s first Plastic Free Trust Mark aims to revolutionise how shoppers buy their food and drink. The Trust Mark will be awarded to food and drink products that are packaged without plastic in a bid to make it easier for shoppers to go plastic-free. Early adoptees of A Plastic Planet’s Plastic Free Trust Mark include UK supermarket giant Iceland, Dutch retailer Ekoplaza, Troo Granola and tea brand teapigs.

Under A Plastic Planet’s strict Materials Evaluation Criteria, products must have a minimum of 99% plastic-free packaging to be considered eligible to carry the Plastic Free Trust Mark. The allowance of up to 1% plastic is to allow for tiny amounts of plastics found in glues, labels, and colourings. A Plastic Planet’s expert Plastic Free Panel reviews all packaging. Plastic-free includes certified EN 13432 compostable biomaterials.

Teapigs is committed to being the UK’s greenest tea company. The cardboard across their full range is FSC certified and they print using vegetable ink. Their signature everyday brew is 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified and they are an approved member of the Sustainable Restaurant Association.

Source: Tea and coffee