Jessica Vargas
Separating waste is sometimes not that easy. Where does the tea bag go, for example? Of course, the tea leaves are organic waste. But what do we do with thread, paper, and clip? Separate – or dispose of together? Residual waste or organic waste?
Some throw the used tea bags in the organic waste, others in the residual waste. And most of them are not quite sure whether their disposal method is the right one at all. Here are the facts:
A tea bag is not just a tea bag
Tea bags are made of different materials: First, there is the tea, which is packed in a sleeve. On the cover, in turn, there is a thread, a piece of paper, and often a clip.
If you want to take it to the extreme and perfect waste separation, you would have to cut open the bag, throw the contents into the organic waste bin and dispose of the rest separately: the paper of the bag, thread, and clip with the residual waste and the small note with the paper waste. Overdressed? We think yes.
So let’s limit ourselves to the question: should tea bags be disposed of in organic waste or in the residual waste bin?
Dispose of tea bags: organic waste or residual waste?
The material of the bag is decisive for the question of whether the tea bag should be disposed of in organic waste or residual waste:
Classic tea bags, the so-called double-chamber paper bags, are made of cellulose or other natural fibers – according to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, these bags can be disposed of with organic waste: the other components do not pose a problem during further processing, they are filtered out. It is also possible to put the tea bag in the compost – the materials it contains will decompose there within a short period of time.
Increasingly, the tea bags (e.g. the pyramid bags) are also made of bio-plastic or synthetic paper. Both materials have no place in organic waste. You must therefore throw the corresponding tea bags in the residual waste.
However, since single-compartment bags without thread are often sealed with fibers made of plastic, and some double-compartment bags have heat-resistant polypropylene (a petroleum-based plastic) added or contain synthetic polymers or resins (which decompose much more slowly than paper), our advice: tea bags better completely in Dispose of residual waste.
If you want to reduce a little waste, it is best to buy loose tea. You can infuse this tea in a reusable tea strainer or tea egg and then dispose of the tea leaves in organic waste without hesitation.
