Tea Bags, Coffee Capsules and the Environment

/ / Published in Brewing, Lessons on Tea, Production, Tea

A recent article by the gentleman who invented the coffee capsule stated the he regretted having done so.

The reason? The environmental impact of millions of used capsules, some aluminium, some plastic.

While producers claim that they are recycled, with the best of intentions, most end up in waste refill!

The same goes for the so called silken or silk pyramid bags (they are actually nylon) – a gimmick which leads to millions of used teabags which are virtually non destructible.

While some are biodegradable they do take a very very long time to break down. Test them yourself if you must!

The traditional paper teabags do break down easily and their contents can be recycled as compost.

Used coffee capsules, nylon pyramid tea bags and discarded cigarette filters, all indestructible – do we really need them in our fragile planet?

Almost 40 years ago I realised that the quality of teas being imported into Australia were of poor quality. The proliferation of teabags and a pricing regime enforced by the major supermarket chains had led to a noticeable drop in quality. Elmstock Tea Company was born out of this background in 1979. I had started my working life at 17 in the Tea Plantation/Accounts Department of a large company in Colombo. My family had connections to the tea trade and prior to that coffee and sugar plantations in Ceylon since the 1840s – an unbroken and direct link of over six generations. Many of the plantations started by or managed by my great grandparents still produce some of the teas we buy today! After migrating to Australia in 1972 I graduated from Curtin University and qualified as an accountant (CPA). I worked and managed large public companies involved in the wool trade for many years and was also involved with the listing of public companies on the ASX. Elmstock have been wholesaling premium quality teas and herbal infusions sourced from the best plantations for almost 40 years. We decided over twenty five years ago not to deal with the major supermarket chains as we did not want to compromise tea quality and revert to the ‘mediocrity of the pack’ which is entirely price driven.

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