Plastic tea bags → loose-leaf or plastic-free bags
Many tea bags are sealed with polypropylene or made of plastic mesh. Hot water plus plastic, several times a day; how much reaches your cup is still debated.
- Plastic avoided
- ≈ 120 g a year
- Typical cost
- Free – £15
- Swap from
- Tea bags sealed or made with plastic
- Last reviewed
- 26 September 2026
How strong is the evidence?
How the dials work- Exposure evidenceHow strong is the evidence that the plastic version exposes you to microplastics or plastic chemicals?
- Emerging · 2/4
- Environmental evidenceHow strong is the evidence that this swap cuts environmental harm over the product's whole life?
- Emerging · 2/4
- Claim verificationHow well has the alternative's plastic-free claim been verified?
- No product yet
Why swap
Tea bags steep in near-boiling water, and many paper bags are heat-sealed with polypropylene while mesh "pyramid" bags are often nylon or PLA. A widely reported 2019 study counted billions of particles per cup from plastic mesh bags, but Germany's risk assessor (BfR) re-tested it and found most were plastic by-products rather than microplastics, with counts far too high. The exposure is real in principle; its size is still unclear.
What to look for
- Loose-leaf tea with a steel infuser or teapot strainer
- Tea bags with a PFH Checked or lab-tested plastic-free claim
- Folded-and-stapled or stitched paper bags
Watch out for
- "Biodegradable" and "plant-based" bags are often PLA — still plastic
- "Plastic-free" on the box may refer only to the outer wrapper
Evidence and sources
- Hernandez et al. (2019), Environmental Science & Technology — reported billions of particles released into a single cup from plastic mesh tea bags
- German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR, 2025) — re-tested the 2019 tea bag study and found its microplastic counts probably two to three orders of magnitude too high; most particles were oligomers, not microplastics
More swaps in drinks & snacks
Bottled water → tap water in a steel bottle
Bottled water carries hundreds of thousands of plastic particles per litre. UK tap water is cheap and safe.
Swap first · about 3.0 kg of plastic a year
Plastic coffee pods → cafetière or moka pot
One pod a day is over a kilo of hard-to-recycle packaging a year, and hot pressurised water runs through plastic.
High priority · about 1.0 kg of plastic a year
Takeaway coffee cups → reusable steel cup
Paper cups are lined with plastic and topped with a plastic lid, and they hold drinks at 80°C or more.
High priority · about 500 g of plastic a year