Abacá banana plant fibres are used to create this natural cellulose biodegradable “technical” eco-friendly fabric known as Bananatex.
The first technical fabric in the world, called Bananatex, is manufactured entirely from banana plants that are naturally grown in the Philippine highlands.
The plant is self-sufficient and doesn’t need pesticides, fertiliser, or more water because it is grown in the Philippine highlands within a natural environment of sustainable mixed agriculture and forestry. These characteristics have enabled it to improve biodiversity and the economic well-being of its farmers while helping to reforest regions that were once devastated by monoculture palm farms.
Bananatex was created by the Zurich, Switzerland-based fashion firm QWSTION over the course of three years invested in research, testing, and development in association with a yarn-spinning business in Tainan, Taiwan. QWSTION was established in 2008 to conduct research on renewable materials as an alternative to synthetic textiles. The company was established to address the problems with the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of synthetic materials derived from petroleum in the textile manufacturing sector.
A plant belonging to the family of banana trees called “Banana Hemp” or “Abacá” was discovered for the first time by QWSTION in 2015, and its potential as the next step in the sustainability mission was instantly obvious. The innate qualities are consistent with its dedication to social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Abacá is strong and self-sufficient, requiring neither pesticides nor additional water because it is grown in a natural ecosystem of sustainable mixed agriculture and forests. These characteristics have made it possible for it to improve the economic well-being of its farmers while helping to reforest parts of the Philippines that were formerly destroyed by palm plantations.
Growing abacá plants helps improve the soil, boost biodiversity, and minimise erosion. Abacá is planted alongside other plant species to do this, and waste abacá leaves are left to degrade and replenish the soil’s nutrients. As a result, lands that were formerly home to monoculture oil palm plantations and deforested rainforests that were felled for lumber can now support mixed-species, organic plantations.
The making
The stalks of abacá plants can be harvested each year and entirely regrow after a year. The stalks of abacá plants are cut or “tumbled” while the leaves are “topped,” or cut with a bamboo sickle. On the ground, the leaves are composted to create fertiliser. Primary fibres are found in the tuxy, the leaf sheath’s outer layer that separates it from the interior layers. At the harvesting location, the tuxies are then manually separated using a stripping knife. The fibres are then air-dried and packaged before being moved from the forest to the farmers’ cooperative trading warehouse. They are then graded according to colour, with lighter-coloured fibres being more valuable due to their scarcity.
The raw fibres are shipped to Mindanao, Philippines, where they are rope-tied before being boiled and pressed into sheets that resemble cardboard and are then sent to Taiwan. The sheets of abacá fibre are then submerged in water. They are later transformed into paper and separated into strips. After that, the paper strips are spun into yarn.
Bananatex has won numerous international sustainability and design honours since its launch in October 2018 including the Green Product Award 2019, the Design Prize Switzerland Award 2019/20, and the German Sustainability Award Design 2021.
This eco-friendly fabric also achieved Cradle to Cradle Certified Gold status in December 2021, the highest level of certification available for products that are secure, circular, and produced ethically. This was a significant step forward.
Read Also- https://theorganicmagazine.com/textiles/eco-friendly/your-dress-could-be-made-from-pineapple-leaves/
