PG tips is planning to complete the switching of the entire range to plant-based by summer 2021
PG tips has started removing outer plastic overwrap on 160s retail boxes. (Credit: Unilever UK)
Unilever UK’s tea brand PG tips has started removing the outer plastic overwrap on its 160s retail boxes, as part of its efforts to provide a fully plant-based range.
Recently, the transition of pyramid tea bags to a biodegradable plant-based material has been completed.
The shift to naked boxes first started at the end of 2019. PG tips plans to complete the transformation of the entire range to plant-based by summer 2021.
PG tips aims to provide more environmentally friendly cuppa, as more than nine billion of its bags are sold per annum.
PG tips had worked for several years to develop fully biodegradable tea bags, and is said to be the first major tea brand to feature them in all retail boxes.
The plant-based tea bags were first launched in 2018
The plant-based tea bags, which were first introduced in 2018, are produced using corn starch. They can be easily disposed of in a food waste bin to biodegrade back to the environment.
The brand is also planning to make available new teabags to the brand’s large catering bags and foodservice range by the end of this year.
PG tips’ Manchester factory, which blends and packages tea, is also carbon-neutral with 100% of the energy used generated from renewable sources, said Unilever.
Unilever UK&I tea director Fiachra Moloney said: “As the nation’s favourite tea brand, making over 170 million cuppas a week, we’ve been working hard to make this environmentally-friendly switch.
“It’s not been without its challenges, but we’re delighted to be the first major tea brand to offer tea-drinkers a fully biodegradable cuppa in plant-based packaging with the same great taste they expect from PG tips.”
In February this year, Unilever Finland announced the launch of its Ingman ice cream in a sustainable carton produced using Stora Enso’s renewable packaging material.