The innovation in a nutshell
Making sustainable bio-textiles by using left-overs from food crop harvests.
More in detail
Banana trees, pineapple leaves, rice straws, sugar cane stalks and seed oil from hemp and flax offer more than 250 million tons of fiber each year – equal to 2.5 times the current global fiber demand.
However, most of this valuable resource is seen as waste and left to rot, creating methane pollution and crop disease. If not left to rot, the crops are often burnt, attributing to 10% of all air pollution deaths every year.
Agraloop thought differently and turned the problem into a solution by seeing this waste as a valuable resource. Their innovation is to transform food crop waste into high-value natural fiber products, in a cost competitive and scalable way. This process also generates an additional income to the farmers.
“Winning the Global Change Award means we can begin to unlock huge value for the textile and fashion industry.”
Isaac Nichelson
Team members: Yitzac Goldstein, Geof Kime and Isaac Nichelson
Country: USA
Website: circular-systems.com
