Barry’s Tea is looking at ways to remove plastics from its current range of teabags and make them compostable “as speedily as possible”. Many tea brands use a heat-resistant plastic sealant called polypropylene to help tea bags retain shape and while most consumers are unaware of the fact, the presence of such micro-plastics means tea bags are non-compostable. The multinational said its tea bags will be made from a plant-based material that is 100 per cent renewable and biodegradable. “I’ve been throwing my tea bags into the compost for years,” Ms Quinn said. She said the “limited number of tea filter paper suppliers” in the industry are working on solutions “that all tea producers will be able to adopt.

Source: The Irish Times May 22, 2018 12:17 UTC