The Co-op supermarket UK is developing a teabag that is fully biodegradable and does not contain plastic. The company will produce its own-brand Fairtrade 99 teabags without polypropylene, a sealant widely used within the industry to maintain shape, for sale by the end of the year. UK, which sells 367 million teabags annually, has developed a method of heat sealing the items in partnership with supplier Typhoo and Finnish sustainable fibre firm Ahlstrom-Munksjö. Of the 165 million cups of tea consumed in the The Co-op each day, 96% are produced using teabags.
UK supermarket The Co-op is developing a teabag that is fully biodegradable and does not contain plastic. The company will produce its own-brand Fairtrade 99 teabags without polypropylene, a sealant widely used within the industry to maintain shape, for sale by the end of the year. The Co-op, which sells 367 million teabags annually, has developed a method of heat sealing the items in partnership with supplier Typhoo and Finnish sustainable fibre firm Ahlstrom-Munksjö. Of the 165 million cups of tea consumed in the UK each day, 96% are produced using teabags.