The direct answer
Pyramid bags are filled in one of two food-grade mesh materials: nylon (PET), a polyester mesh, or PLA, a mesh made from polylactic acid derived from plant starch, with corn the common source. Both are established food-contact formats, and filled and sealed properly they deliver the same sort of open, visible infusion - the leaf has room, the cup brews fast and clear. The difference that matters to a brand is not the brew; it is the paperwork. Each material supports a different set of statements on a pack, and degradability wording in particular must rest on the material report for the mesh actually used, not on the general warmth of the word "plant-based". Choose the material for the claims your channel needs, then hold the documents that back those claims. The rest of this note is that documentation, in the order a program actually meets it.
The two materials, plainly described
Nylon (PET) mesh is the long-standing premium pyramid format: a clear, strong, heat-stable mesh that keeps its shape in the pack and in the cup, seals cleanly, and has decades of food-contact history behind it. PLA mesh looks much the same in the pack - clear, fine, formed into the same pyramid shapes - but the polymer comes from fermented plant starch rather than petrochemical feedstock, which is the whole basis of its sourcing story. One material property is worth knowing at specification time: PLA softens at lower temperatures than PET. That is not a hidden defect; it is a property to be managed, which is why the desk confirms the brew basis and the material together with the packing partner for each format - hot-and-long steep programs and PLA mesh are specified with that property in view, not discovered after the first customer email. Neither material changes what is inside the bag; the tea is the tea. The material changes what you may say about the bag.
The third option on the shelf
Between the two meshes sits an older format: paper. The version this desk offers is a chlorine-free bleached paper bag - the bleaching method being the part buyers ask about - which suits traditional flat-bag presentations and value formats where the mesh look is not the point. Paper carries its own honest vocabulary: it does not invite degradability poetry, and it does not need to. Its case is simpler - familiar appearance, lower visual glamour, a bleaching statement it can actually document. Programs that need a third tier of packaging, or a house format for foodservice, often land here; the packaging options page shows where each format sits.
Formats and claims at a glance
| Aspect | Nylon (PET) mesh | PLA mesh | Chlorine-free bleached paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source material | Food-grade PET mesh | Polylactic acid from plant starch | Paper, chlorine-free bleaching option |
| In the pack | Clear, resilient mesh | Similar clear mesh look | Traditional flat-bag appearance |
| Claim support | Food-contact documentation | Plant-origin material; degradability wording only per material report | Chlorine-free bleaching statement |
| Typical fit | Premium pyramid retail and hospitality | Plant-origin positioning programs | Value and traditional formats |
Read the claim-support row as the decision row: everything above it is description, but that row is what a compliance reviewer, a retail buyer or a marketplace auditor will actually test your pack against.
The degradability claim trap
This is where programs earn their compliance scars. Words like "biodegradable" are regulated wording in a number of destinations, and compostability in particular is a defined, tested property - a material does not become compostable because a marketing deck says so, and a claim that outruns the material report is a claim waiting for a letter. The working rule is mechanical: any degradability or plant-origin statement on the pack must be traceable to the material report for the mesh in that SKU, phrased the way the destination market permits, and confirmed with a qualified adviser where the wording is new to that market. The labeling basics note covers how material claims sit among the mandatory elements. Programs that follow the mechanical rule never have an interesting story about their tea bags; that is the point.
Documents to request
Three items cover the subject. First, the material report or data sheet for the mesh itself, obtained through the packing partner from the mesh producer - it names the polymer, its food-contact status, and the property data any claim will lean on. Second, food-contact compliance documentation for the finished bag in the destination market, since the standard is the destination's, not the origin's. Third, the filled-bag specification: the pyramid lines on this desk run 2 to 3 grams of tea per bag, and the spec records material, weight, seal and tag together so the pack, the report and the invoice describe one object. All three are confirmed in writing per order; none are one-time relics, because a change of mesh supplier or material changes the second item and possibly the first. Attachments belong in the same review: the string, the tag, and any staple or glue that holds them - each is a food-contact surface of its own, and each belongs in the destination's documentation set. Outer packaging rounds out the file, since the carton that protects the bags in transit is part of the same compliance story.
Choosing by program, not by trend
Match the material to the channel. Hospitality and bubble-tea programs buying single-serve strength usually take nylon mesh for its resilience across hot, fast service. Retail programs building a plant-origin positioning take PLA - and accept the discipline that its claims travel with the report. Value formats and traditional lines take the bleached paper option and say exactly what is documentable. Brands running their own filling lines take empty pyramid bags with string and tag, in the material their line and their claims support; the empty bag line and the filled pyramid program page describe both routes, and the private label page shows how the material decision lands in artwork. Send the channel, brew basis and claim ambitions on the quote form, and the material recommendation arrives with the sample plan rather than after it.