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Ready to recycle

Roughly a 6 minute read

Here at Taylors we’ve put a lot of work into evaluating our plastic use and we’re working hard to eliminate unnecessary plastic and make our packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable.

Making changes to our products takes time — sometimes we’re waiting for the perfect packaging material to become available so that we can ensure our products reach you at the quality you’d expect. We also put our packaging through rigorous testing to ensure the new materials we want to use are suitable.

You can find out more about our product and plastics here and below is an easy-to-follow guide so you can see where you can help us out by disposing of each part of your packaging in the best way possible.

Yorkshire Tea Boxes

The Box

Yorkshire Tea boxes are made from cartonboard, which is derived from wood pulp.

  • This goes in your paper and cardboard recycling.

    • The tea bags

    We’re replacing the oil-based plastic in our tea bags with a plant-based plastic called PLA and all our UK Supermarket Yorkshire Tea boxes now contain plant-based tea bags.

    You can find lots more info on our switch to PLA here.

  • Our plant-based tea bags can be popped in your food or garden council waste bins for industrial composting. These don’t go in your home compost heap as they need quite a bit of heat and space to break down. For remaining tea bags that haven’t yet switched, please pop them in your normal bin.

    • The outer wrap

    This is made from oil-based plastic (polypropylene) — and it’s the next thing we want to change after our tea bags. We’re researching ways to remove the wrap and you should start seeing unwrapped boxes on shelf from 2023. In the meantime you can now recycle your plastic wrapping at many supermarkets.

  • This can be recycled with other plastic bags and wrapping at many supermarkets.

    • Taylors Roast and Ground Coffee

    The pack

    Our new roast and ground packs are now made from a material called Mono-Polypropylene (Mono-PP), which means that it can be recycled at most supermarkets. If the back of your pack has a label that says​‘recycle at large supermarkets’., you can collect your wrap, along with other flexible plastics in your household and take it to a nearby store by checking your postcode here.

    Before you take it to a drop off point, please make sure it’s clean and remove the valve – that’s the little square bit at the top that lets the air out and stops oxygen getting in. Then you’ll know it can be recycled properly.

  • Packs that say 'recycle at large supermarkets' can be taken to your nearest store.

    • Taylors Coffee Bags

    The Box

    Our coffee bag boxes are made from cartonboard, which is derived from wood pulp.

  • This goes in your paper and cardboard recycling.

    • The coffee bags

    We have been able to use PLA — a plant based, industrially compostable plastic — in our coffee bags since they launched.

  • Our coffee bags can be popped in your food or garden council waste bins. These don’t go in your home compost heap as they need quite a bit of heat and space to break down.

    • The outer wrap

    This is made from a ​‘triple laminate’ material of plastics and aluminium foil. Without this envelope or with a paper alternative your coffee would start to go stale within a week. We’re yet to find a good enough replacement which we know can be properly recycled and keep your coffee fresh.

    We’ve already reduced the envelope material by 25% which is a good start, but we’re working hard to find a new material that will meet our needs. 

    While we work on this packaging, we’ve partnered with TerraCycle®, so that you can recycle the wrapping through our Taylors TerraCycle scheme.

  • These can be recycled through our TerraCycle scheme.

    • Yorkshire Tea Speciality Brews

    The box

    Yorkshire Tea / Our coffee bag boxes are made from cartonboard, which is derived from wood pulp.

  • This goes in your paper and cardboard recycling.

    • The tea bags

    Our Speciality Brew tea bags are made with natural fibres and sealed with a renewable, plant-based, industrially compostable plastic called Polylactic Acid or PLA.

  • Our plant-based tea bags can be popped in your food or garden council waste bins for industrial composting. These don’t go in your home compost heap as they need quite a bit of heat and space to break down.

    • The inner wrap

    The inner wrap is made from metallised polyethylene (an oil-based plastic). We’d like to change this packaging once we’ve completed our tea bag material switch.

  • This isn't currently recyclable, so it should go in your general waste bin.

    • Yorkshire Tea Bulk Bags

    The pack

    Our biggest packs are made from polyester and polyethylene. We’d like to change this packaging once we’ve completed our tea bag material switch and changed the outer wrap on our tea boxes (both of which involve a higher overall volume of plastic).

    While we work on this packaging, we’ve partnered with TerraCycle®, so that you can recycle the wrapping through our Taylors TerraCycle scheme.

  • These can be recycled through our TerraCycle scheme

    • The tea bags

    The tea bags in our bulk bags are made with natural fibres and sealed with polypropylene (an oil-based plastic). Now that we have switched our boxed tea bags to a plant-based PLA seal we are working on switching these packs.

  • These tea bags should go in your general waste bin until they are switched.

    • Enveloped Tag Tea Bags

    The Envelope

    The envelopes for our string and tag bags are made from paper with a thin layer of plastic to enable them to be sealed and provide a protective layer for the tea infusions inside. We’d like to change this packaging once we’ve completed our tea bag material switch and changed the outer wrap on our tea boxes (both of which involve a higher overall volume of plastic).

  • These aren't currently recyclable, so they should go in your general waste bin.

    • The Tea Bags

    Our string and tag tea bags are made with natural fibres and sealed with polypropylene (an oil-based plastic). Now that we have switched our supermarket boxed tea bags to a plant-based PLA seal we are working on switching these packs.

  • These tea bags should go in your general waste bin until they are switched.

    • Loose Leaf Tea

    The pack

    Our loose leaf tea packs are made from a layered mix of oil-based plastics, metallised polyester, polypropylene and polyethylene. We’d like to change this packaging once we’ve completed our tea bag material switch and removed the outer wrap on our tea boxes (both of which involve a higher overall volume of plastic). 

    While we work on this packaging, we’ve partnered with TerraCycle®, so that you can recycle the wrapping through our Taylors TerraCycle scheme.

  • This can be recycled through our TerraCycle scheme.

    • Takeaway Cups

    Our Yorkshire Tea and Taylors Coffee Takeaway cups are made from paper and lined with a renewable, plant-based plastic called Polylactic Acid (PLA) on the inside, which stops the tea from leaking out. They’re industrially compostable and we provide dedicated bins for them at events we run.

  • Disposal of compostable cups is complex at the moment. They're not certified as home compostable and shouldn't go in food waste or garden waste bins because they look like standard takeaway cups (which contain oil-based plastic and aren't compostable) so are often removed during processing. So right now they're best collected on their own in dedicated bins, which we provide at events we run. If there isn’t a dedicated bin to put them in, the best place to put them is in a normal bin.

    • For more information on recycling packaging and other items that you have around the house, be sure to take at look at the Recycle Now website, which is packed with guidance on what you can recycle at home and locally.

    Last updated 9th April 2024