How do you like your tea? With cream? Sugar? Or the classic, plastic. That’s right, environmentally detrimental glue and plastic. Allow me to spill the tea.
Tea lovers sing many a praise of those green leaves which are rich in antioxidants and lowers heart failure risk. But little do they know that the tea bags we all use shed tiny pieces of plastic (microplastic) in our hot seemingly comforting cups of tea.
Most teabags contain up to 25% plastic.A study conducted by Canadian researchers revealed that a plastic tea bag at brewing temperature (95°C) releases around 11.6 billion microplastics in one cup. That is a lot of plastic!
Microplastics are shockingly also found in our food and water. A study suggests humans ingest a credit card’s worth of plastic each month. While that is worrisome, what’s more frightening is that the above-mentioned teacup contains more microplastic than our apparent usual intake.
Tea drinkers can avoid tea bags for starters and buy loose tea with tea infusers (which you can easily find online).
There are a few alternatives to plastic tea bags, which are listed below along with information such as their property and the companies use them for their products.
Materials Used for Plastic-Free Tea Bags
1. Cornstarch
Cornstarch was discovered in 1840 by Thomas Kingsford, a superintendent of a wheat starch factory in New Jersey.
It is a starch obtained from corn grain.
Initially, it was used for starching laundry and other industrial uses. Still, it’s widely used as a thickening agent for medical purposes, in bioplastic manufacturing, and in packaging applications, especially in food packaging.
Not only is it available in abundance, but it is also very affordable, unlike synthetic polymers, which are produced from petroleum. This means that the hiked prices of petroleum result in hiked prices of the polymer. Not to mention that petroleum is an exhaustible resource.
Biodegradability: There’s some debate about the biodegradability of cornstarch. Some claim that it is a biodegradable material; under certain conditions, if disposed of correctly, cornstarch will eventually break down into carbon dioxide and water. The circumstances include the presence of enzymes such as Proteinase K, which can catalyze the hydrolytic decomposition of cornstarch. But, if not disposed of correctly, cornstarch may take years to decompose, especially if no light or oxygen is available. However, for this reason, many believe that cornstarch is not degradable, as proteinase K is rarely found in nature.
Companies researching Cornstarch for Tea Bags
1. Teapigs
Teapigs is one of the companies that uses cornstarch to manufacture its pyramid-shaped tea bags, which it calls “tea temples”. Their biodegradability isn’t limited to the cornstarch-based temples. The string that attaches temples to the tag is also made of cornstarch. The tag is made of paper, and the vegetable ink used on the label is vegetable-based, making the product fully biodegradable.
They finally seal the deal with heat, which means no glue.
The inner plastic-like bag is not made of plastic but of a material called NatureFlex, which Futamura manufactures by converting renewable air pulp into airtight packaging.
Abel & Cole produces tea bags, among other organic products. They boast completely plastic-free tea bags and packaging. Their tea bags are made fromSoilon, a bioplastic produced by lactic fermentation of glucose derived from cornstarch.
It is entirely biodegradable and degrades in a month. The packaging for the tea bags is made of biodegradable paper. To add to the list, they are glue-free because they use heat to seal theirproducts.
The material is also certified by The Soil Association through the EU organic regulation.
Properties:
3. Ahlstrom-Munksjö
In July 2018, the Finland-based company announced an investment of EUR 28 million for biodegradable and compostable solutions to attract the tea and coffee markets.
Ahlstrom-Munksjö has developed a technology, Fiber+, using polylactic acid (PLA), a renewable biopolymer, for its teabags. They used the same material in BioWeb®,which they calledthe tea industry’s first spun-bond web.
BioWeb® filter’s unique non-woven web is visually different from wet-laid products. They also claim that the filter delivers the most natural taste from the tea bags.
It’s based on 100% renewable raw materials and is certified by DIN CERTCO.
Properties:
2. Abaca
Abaca, also known as Manila hemp, is extracted from Banana Leaves and is native to the Philippines and humid tropical areas. Because of its exceptional tensile strength, it is used by the paper industry for tea bags, banknotes, and decorative papers. It can also make handicrafts like bags, carpets, and clothing.
According to the 2014 report, the Philippines is the world’s largest producer of Abaca fiber, accounting for 87.4%. Ecuador and Costa Rica provided the remaining shares, with 12.5% and 0.1%, respectively.
Biodegradability: In an experiment, water was poured on a sample of abaca fabric to test its biodegradability in which it started degrading after 2 months. Hemp’s high tensile strength is due to its largely silica (sand) composition. This results in a tough yet biodegradable material.
Companies researching Abaca
1. Clipper
Clipper takes pride in producing unbleached and plastic-free tea bags. Their tea bags are made of abaca with some plant cellulose fibers generated using unbleached and non-genetically modified papers which the company claims to be the world’s first.
For sealing they opt for heat instead of glue. Their outer packaging also consists of plant-based materials. You can throw the tea bags along with the packaging with food waste or compost.
In 2018, after many trials, the company was able to shift all the production over to the new paper.
Properties:
2. Pukka
Pukka Herbs uses a simple yet efficient way of packing their tea bags. They use abaca for their tea bags which they simply stitch with threads of organic cotton (non-bleached) instead of staple pin and the company considered theworld’s first to do so. In an effort to make sustainable packaging they print their products with vegetable ink.
Properties:
3. Wood Pulp
Wood Pulp — also known as cellulose fiber — as the name suggests is made from wood or bark of trees to be precise. Wood pulp paper is popularly used as filter paper for tea bags as they share similar properties with engineered fibers, which is why they are also used as chemical filter paper.
Wood Pulp, also known as cellulose fiber, is made from the wood or bark of trees, to be precise. Wood pulp paper is popularly used as filter paper for tea bags as they share similar properties with engineered fibers that’s why they are also used as chemical filter paper.
Cellulose is also widely used in the textile industry as fiber-reinforcement composites.
Being fully organic, cellulose completely degrades in soil and hence falls under the bio-plastic category.
Cellulose has the upper hand compared to other engineered fibers as it is low in cost and low in density which makes it affordable and easy to transport and carry.
Companies researching Wood Pulp
Two leaves
Two Leaves endorses a special Paisley collection of tea bags made from wood pulp. It can be made from multiple types of wood, such as spruce, pine, fir, aspen, and birch. They also claim their bags are chlorine-free and that they avoid staples for sealing their tea bags.
Half of their teas are wrapped in envelopes that are certified compostable, the other half uses a material designed to decompose.
Apart from helping the environment, wood pulp adds to the taste, as the fiber has excellent infusion properties.
Properties:
4. Cotton Tea Bag
A popular alternative to sustainable, biodegradable tea bags is cotton. Cotton itself is a very popular material having innumerous advantages. It’s the perfect mix of softness, strength, and flexibility with biodegradability being the cherry on top.
Cotton also gives its competitors a run for their money in the field of renewability. Being around for centuries guarantees honed farming practices, perfected over the years.
Hannah Sells Tea is an independent company that uses small cotton bags for its tea. The England-based startup says that these tea bags are reusable. The bags are natural colored, made entirely of cotton, and biodegradable.
5. NatureFlex
NatureFlex is a packaging film developed by Futamura to provide environmentally responsible packaging. The material is derived from wood pulp. The company, Futamura, produces and distributes it to environmentally conscious tea sellers.
The films are fully certified to the American (ASTM D6400) and European (EN13432) norms for 100% compostable packaging. Proven suitable for home composting, they are also marine-degradable.
The company claims that these tea bags keep tea in premium condition thanks to their high moisture barrier.
Companies that are using NatureFlex
Due to its various properties, companies use NatureFlex in their production processes for different purposes.
Below is the list of tea providers that use NatureFlex:
Problem stated– When filter bags dispose of a compost heap or a biowaste bin, depending on some parameters such as temperature, moisture, microorganisms, etc., the natural fiber component of the filter bag will get disintegrated and become biodegraded, whereas the thermoplastic polymeric fibrous network remains intact. Further, it’s impractical to separate the natural fiber component from the thermoplastic polymeric component.
Solution– The patent states that by adding specific lubricants at 0.5% to 5% by weight of the ready filter, the aforementioned problem can be overcome. Specifically, they are aliphatic or partly aromatic polyesters.
Problem stated– With the significantly improved fabrics, there still exists a need to increase the elongation of non-woven fabrics to enhance moldability. Also, there is a need to reduce overall costs by avoiding the process of making low melt fibers.
Solution – The patent discloses a non-woven web for producing pouches and bags with Polylactic Acid (PLA) fibers, created through dry thermo-bonding. The PLA fibers have a crystalline portion and an amorphous PLA powder is added to PLA fibers to act as an adhesive for binding the PLA fibers together. Thus cost is saved by not needing the PLA amorphous to be extruded into a fiber but act as an adhesive.
Problem stated – The process of making tea bag ash is too long and if there is a faster solution, it makes the tea taste bitter or less convenient to drink. So, the patent solves the problem of making tea bags and to make it capable of rapid extraction and eco-friendly as well.
Solution – The patent describes the ingredients and their amounts for tea bag compositions that rapidly extract and possess eco-friendly properties.
Conclusion
As sustainability is a key goal for many industries, companies opt for more environmentally friendly solutions rather than endangering the environment.
Many tea trading companies have also shifted their production to plastic-free solutions. Still, many companies worldwide are seeking to relocate, or are considering relocating, their production. However, with many plastic alternatives available, they may face a dilemma when choosing the best solution for them.
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To address the problem to some extent, we have provided a SWOT analysis of one of the significant alternatives, which can help a company decide whether an alternative plastic solution is best for them.
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