By Anders Lorenzen

In the effort to reduce its packaging, British tea producer Dorset Tea last month teamed up with the Marine Conservation Society to highlight the need for sustainable packaging taking the opportunity to launch their own new sustainable packaging which they say will contribute to keeping the coastlines litter-free.

A goodbye to single-use plastics

Dorset Tea says they have considered every aspect of their packaging. Some of the new features the company has taken is to remove the gold lettering on its outer packaging so that it is 100% recyclable and ensuring that the sift proof packaging no longer requires inner foil bags. In addition, they have made their tea bags biodegradable by using plant-based and heat-sealable paper that can be industrially composted and the box no longer comes with outer plastic packaging. Up until now, their tea bags had been made with an oil-based plastic. 

Lockdown littering

The company says that its beautiful local Dorset region has suffered from damage caused by single-use plastics and littering. This has been particularly bad during lockdown due to more people holidaying in the UK rather than travelling abroad. This inspired the company to team up with the Marine Conservation Society to create awareness about the impact of littering along the coastline.

About the new initiative Phoebe Double, Brand Manager at Dorset Tea said: “ We have been working hard to make sure our products respect the environment. It has been challenging, but we are very happy to announce that all of our products will be packaged in environmentally friendly packaging. Our special recyclable boxes are not wrapped in plastic and keep the teabags fresh without a foil bag and our biodegradable teabags can be popped into your council food waste bin after usage.” 

About the partnership with Dorset Tea, Sanjay Mitra, Corporate Partnerships Manager at the Marine Conservation Society commented: “The Marine Conservation Society is delighted to be partnering with Dorset Tea’s Sunshine Blend and to see them removing single-use plastics from their products. Single-use plastics are hugely damaging for our beautiful marine environment and we applaud Dorset Tea’s efforts to minimise their impact. We’re also thrilled to be working with them on an education project using curriculum-linked resources at schools in Dorset. Reaching schoolchildren is a hugely important part of our work to educate and inspire future generations to take good care of our environment.” 

The tea-loving Brits will be hoping that other tea brands follow the example shown by Dorset Tea and ditch unnecessary single-use plastics.