Our Sustainability
Naturally a Better Cup
None of our products contain anything artificial and they never will. We believe that all the small things we do add up to make a big difference. We are always looking for ways to be more natural and reduce our impact on the environment. It influences every single decision we make.
Our Commitment to Organic
Clipper is fiercely committed to being organic and anything new we make will be organic certified. Guided by our organic principles, we are committed to being GM-free and will only use ingredients from non-GM sources. We actively discourage the use of chemicals such as pesticides amongst our growers, which we believe gives us better tea that’s better for the environment.
Our Commitment to Organic
Packaging fit for our tea
Unbleached Teabags
We belive simple is better and that’s true for our tea and our packaging, too. We never used chemically bleached teabags because who cares if a teabag isn’t white? After all, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.
We’re Packaging Pioneers
We switched to a plant-based, fully bio-degradeable bio-material over a year ago. As a result we have prevented tonnes of polypropylene plastic from entering the waste stream. We’re working on a number of green packaging options, including reducing our packaging weight and improving our recyclability.
Our Handy Packaging Guide
We know that it can be confusing to know what to do with your waste these days. So to make things really simple, we’ve put together a handy table which tells you exactly how each item of our packaging should be recycled or disposed of.
Pillow tea bags
Made from:
Completely free of polypropylene. Sealed with PLA a bio-material from non-GM plant material
Unbleached of course!
String & tag tea bags
Made from:
Bag- paper & wood cellulose based binder
Unbleached of course!
String- 100% organic certified cotton
Tag- Paper
Envelopes
Made from:
Paper with a heat seal coating
Pack cartons
Made from:
Paperboard & Ink
Inner bag
Made from:
Polyethylene
Recyclable at supermarket collection points
Good to Know
Our teabags are sealed with a plant-based bio-material which won’t contaminate your compost heap with a petro-chemical residue, but latest advice is that UK composts might not get warm enough to fully breakdown the teabags. We can only recommend that you put our teabags in the food waste bin.
While the paperboard in our boxes & tags is biodegradable, this could take a long time. So we believe recycling is best for these items.
Reducing our packaging
We have invested over £1m in a new production line to remove the unrecyclable inner foil bag across Clipper’s larger packs making the packaging 100% recyclable and suitable for kerbside collection for the paper recycling stream – the is the latest milestone in our 38-year history of ethical and sustainable tea production.
We have also replaced the inner foil bag within our Clipper smaller packs with PE film which is fully recyclable with other household soft plastics at supermarket collection points.
This packaging is ‘ready to recycle’ and can be recycled at carrier bag collection points at the larger stores of major supermarkets. Please check with your local supermarket, for more information see www.recyclenow.com/what-to-do-with/plastic-film
Are Our Tea Bags Plastic-Free?
At Clipper, we’ve always set out to do the right thing for both people & planet.
In 2018 we were the World’s 1st tea company to make ALL our heat seal teabags, unbleached, non-GM, plant-based & fully biodegradable.
Clipper teabags are sealed with a non-GM bio-material made from plant cellulose, known as PLA, also known as bio-plastic. PLA is made from bio material, is fully biodegradable & nothing like the damaging oil-based plastics that people are rightfully concerned about.
If you want to make a choice that’s better for the planet – then make a switch to plant-based, biodegradable teabags, sealed with PLA.
we want to be really clear about the difference between the two materials
When we say plant based and biodegradable, we mean our tea bags are free from polypropylene otherwise known as petro-based or fossil fuel based plastic.
plant-based & biodegradable
Our new tea bag paper is made from a bio-material, which is a natural plant based material.
non-GM
We would never use GM products, which is why we use a bio-material guaranteed to be from a non-GM crop, to seal our paper together.
Unbleached
Adding anything artificial to our products is a big no no, that’s why we never bleach our tea bags.
The world’s first plant-based, biodegradable, unbleached and non-GM tea bags
Cutting our Carbon Footprint
All Clipper teas are blended and packed in the UK, limiting the food-miles on your daily cuppa. But that’s just the start…
Offsetting Emissions
Over the last decade we’ve offset over 31,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. That’s the equivalent of 347,017 car trips from London to Paris!
