[Rob the rake]

Has anyone else noticed this? In recent years teabags have passed intact through the composting process, which leads me to believe that their outer skin is no longer made from paper. Not just the cheapo brands, either, though I've now switched entirely to organic teas after reading that some of the highest levels of pesticides in any food product are found in your daily cuppa.

[steven c]

i heard about micro plastics in tea bags so checked and the Yorkshire tea we use are said to be plastic free [they do compost to nothing] it would be good to know what you should avoid composting and what is in various packaging   we try to compost everything  so that bins are not full of greens.

[Christine]

Teapigs used to be absolutely uncompostable. Shame. I love some of the flavours but refuse to buy teabags that won't compost after use.

[Aunt Sally]

Teapigs used to be absolutely uncompostable. Shame. I love some of the flavours but refuse to buy teabags that won't compost after use.

You’ll have to switch to Suki tea  (all plastic free).

[lettice]

My Dragonfly vanilla teabags that I actually empty out the loose tea from the bag into an infuser pot and the Asda Smartprice teabags (80 for 28p) that use in flask tea when out and about, both teabag outers compost without issue.
Been using them for years in my compost bins and never seen any signs of them at a later stage.

Otherwise, I use loose tea in infuser pots, so empty the spent tea into the compost bin.

[mumofstig]

Has anyone else noticed this? In recent years teabags have passed intact through the composting process, which leads me to believe that their outer skin is no longer made from paper.

For as long as I can remember, since I stopped using leaf tea, the bags survived composting - I just raked them out when the compost was tipped on the beds. In recent years there has been a concerted effort by manufactures to make them compostable - not all have managed it yet though.
https://www.countryliving.com/uk/create/food-and-drink/news/a3291/plastic-tea-bags-environment/

[Rob the rake]

Has anyone else noticed this? In recent years teabags have passed intact through the composting process, which leads me to believe that their outer skin is no longer made from paper.

For as long as I can remember, since I stopped using leaf tea, the bags survived composting - I just raked them out when the compost was tipped on the beds. In recent years there has been a concerted effort by manufactures to make them compostable - not all have managed it yet though.
https://www.countryliving.com/uk/create/food-and-drink/news/a3291/plastic-tea-bags-environment/

Found this, too. A useful guide. Pleasing to see that the Fairtrade Clipper organic tea that I use isn't on the naughty list.

https://moralfibres.co.uk/the-teabags-without-plastic/

[jezza]

Hello if you can get an episode of Inside the factory about tea it shows how tea bags are made I think it said its all paper now,the tea makes good plant food put 10 or 15 used tea bags in a bucket of water even better if you can get a plastic tub split the tea bags stir them up if you happen to have an oxygenation pump from a pond stick it in the tub let it stir for a couple of days then water the plants,this is supposed to be a patented idea by a company my grandad was making compost tea 60 years ago ,good results as well 2 cabbage in a wheelbarrow    jezza

[coldandwindy]

Everyone else seems to already know this but there's difference, then, between "home compostable" and able to go in collected compost bin? 
(In our area (and a lot of quieter places) there isn't a collection of compostable waste.

[jezza]

Hello this is slightly off subject ,if your local authority doesnt collect compostable garden waste  has your area ever thought about community composting,we were encouraged in the early 2000s to start local composting sites in my area the council gave the community composting organiserd £75 per ton  upto 200 tons above for not putting in land fill above 200 tons it went down to £21per ton ,you would need a committee made up of beneficiary organisations eg playgroup ,brownies ,church,youth clubs ,etc and a bank account for the committee,what ever money was made had to be divided up between  the organisations,in my area the participating organisations would make an application for any funding needed,no one organisation could have all the funds all the time,if no organisation applied for any thing then at the end of the year the committee could nominate who the money went to or just keep it in the bank account   jezza

[mumofstig]

I do pay to have a garden waste collection service, mostly because as a non-driver I can't get the hedge trimmings to the council site easily.
However Council decided to take the law about moving 'household waste' sooooo literally they decided it was illegal for us to take our own lawn cuttings/leaves/vegetable trimmings to our allotment heaps - so don't think they'd like the idea of people taking stuff to a community compost faclity, at all.
I queried vegetable peelings with them and was told they could only go in my plot compost bin, if they were trimmed off on the allotment, if I trimmed them at home they were household waste which could only be collected by the council  Its farcical really.

[coldandwindy]

I was looking at the Moral Fibres site that Rob The Rake posted a link to. They differentiate between brands that can be composted at home & ones that can be put into Local Authority compost bins. I don't understand why there would be a difference. Surely things are either compostable or they're not?

[lettice]

Our council has a scheme for kerbside collection in large brown bins at £60 a year, collecting from March to November.
They do mention encouraging residents to share a bin, as they are the large kerbside bin size.
Not sure if many do that, as the bins seem quite popular.

But then our local waste recycle centre is a 20 min walk or short drive and you can dump your bags there of the stuff that just will not compost like leaves, thick plant/wooden cuttings, other stalks (Brussels sprout and sweetcorn stalks) etc.

They used to sell some of the waste compost that was produced, but that seems to have stopped last few years. So, not sure where it all goes now.
I'm always amazed at how much soil people dump there, they allow that in a separate few bins and they are regularly topped up.

[jezza]

Hello the area I live in east Yorkshire has a fortnightly garden waste recycling bin system that keeps garden waste from land fill it's about 90 % recycling at all the sites ,our system is free of charge for bins but chargeable at the household recycling centres for trade waste free for households ad long ad we show a green waste pass and house pass    jezza

[Subversive_plot]

The solution to uncompostable teabags is obvious . . .

Switch to . . . COFFEE !

[ Response from the studio audience:    ]

You're welcome.   
Told you I was a  subversive.