Bananatex
Bananatex provides an alternative material for the textile industry made from 100% banana fibre. Abacá (Musa Textilis) banana plants grow in agroforestry environments in the Philippines, not requiring chemicals or additional water besides rainfall, to grow. The stalks of these plants are cut, the fibres are extracted and further processed to make a new yarn and fabric with the potential to replace synthetic materials like polyester (PET).
- Focus Area: Raw Materials
- Founded in: 2008
- Stage: seriesA
- Funding Status: late
- Website: https://www.bananatex.info/
- Location: Switzerland
In Conversation with Bananatex: From Bananas to Backpacks
The Fashion for Good team interviewed Bananatex’s Co-Founder & CEO Hannes Schoenegger, to learn more about the innovator’s story, technology, challenges, and successes and showcase innovations that are driving tangible change in the industry and leading the path to scale.
Why Fashion for Good is working with Bananatex?
By using Abacá stalks, Bananatex is able to produce textile materials which are not derived from fossil-fuel materials like polyester. The growth of Abacà plants, of which Bananatex only uses the stalks, plays an important role in the reforestation programmes of once deforestated areas for logging practices.
