Sustainable Tea Envelopes & Tags for High-Speed Packing

Who these tea envelopes and tags are for

Our heat-sealable envelopes and tags are made for industrial tea packers and tea brands that run automated packing lines and want to move away from plastic or composite laminates. The envelope and the tag are produced in very large volumes, so even a small problem with sealing or web tension turns into lost hours. The goal of every project is the same: change the material, keep the line.

Typical situations where packers come to us:

• Replacing composite laminates: the current envelope is classified as combined packaging (C/PAP) and carries the highest EPR fees.
• Premium brands: the brand cannot accept the dull, washed-out print that standard recyclable papers often give.
• Organic and plastic-free ranges: the tea bag itself is biodegradable, and the outer envelope should follow the same logic.
• Tags: die-cut tags from food-grade board, made for string knotting and staple-free attachment systems.

How the material works on the machine

A tea envelope has three jobs at once: seal reliably at speed, keep the aroma in and foreign odours out, and carry a sharp print. On the machine, the decisive factor is often friction. In the Imporient (Birchall Tea) project we formulated a heat-seal coating that matches the friction coefficient of plastic, so the paper glides through double-chamber and prism tea bag machines at their original design speed, without drag or jamming.

Converting precision matters as much as the coating. Envelope ribbons that wander in width cause stoppages on high-speed IMA machines, so we apply the slitting accuracy we developed for medical label projects. For Imporient, ribbons are cut to 65.9 ±0.1 mm. Print is produced with high-definition flexography, which keeps brand colours strong on recyclable paper.

Recyclable paper or compostable laminate: how to choose

We offer two material routes. The right one depends mainly on where the used envelope is expected to end up.

• Recyclable heat-sealable paper suits brands that want the envelope to go into the standard paper stream. When the non-fibre share (barrier plus inks) stays below 5%, the packaging can qualify as PAP 22. In the Švenčionių Vaistažolių Fabrikas (SVF) project, a 70 gsm barrier paper replaced a 90 gsm laminate, with a non-fibre content of about 4.5% and 20% more metres per roll.
• Compostable bio-laminates, such as Paper / NatureFlex™ or PLA-based structures, suit organic ranges. For Nasa Corporation (Japan) we bonded a paper outer layer to a NatureFlex™ cellulose inner layer with water-based adhesive, so their customers can offer mesh, tag and envelope made from compostable materials.

Useful questions before deciding: how will consumers in your main markets dispose of the envelope, what do your retailers prefer, and how sensitive is the blend to aroma loss? Our article Compostable vs recyclable packaging: the 2026 brand decision walks through the trade-offs in more detail.

Sustainability and end-of-life

The two routes are built for different end-of-life paths, and we keep them separate. Recyclable envelopes are designed for paper recycling. Compostable structures are designed for composting, and the certification status of a specific structure should be confirmed with our team before you put a claim on pack. FSC® certified paper is available on request under licence FSC-C132885. Our barrier coatings are water-based, and in the NatureFlex™ structure the inks and adhesives are water-based as well.

Lighter material also counts. Moving from 90 gsm to 70 gsm in the Švenčionių Vaistažolių Fabrikas (SVF) project reduced material weight by 22%, which lowers both transport volume and the tonnage on which packaging fees are paid.

Regulatory context

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) has applied since 12 August 2026, and it has put recyclability and documentation for food-contact packaging high on buyers' agendas. Moving from a composite laminate to a mono-material paper also changes how the envelope is classified for extended producer responsibility (EPR). In the SVF project, the shift from the combined-packaging tariff (about 990 €/t) to the paper tariff (about 260 €/t), together with the lighter paper, cut EPR liabilities by roughly 80%. Actual savings depend on your markets and volumes.

Working with Leoprint

We start from your machine, not from a catalogue sheet. Tell us which IMA, Teepack or Fuso line you run, the bag and envelope format, the material you use today and which end-of-life route you are aiming for. We then adapt slipperiness and heat-seal parameters to your machine settings, so your operators do not have to re-learn the line. Envelopes and tags can be handled as one project, as we did for Imporient. Minimums, lead times and pricing are quoted per project. Talk to our team to discuss the right material for your line.