Taiwanese entrepreneur turns banana tree into fabric

Taiwanese entrepreneur Nelson Yang wants to repurpose the country’s heritage to turn the common banana tree into an unexpected material for making sustainable clothing.

Taiwan is now the world’s top producer of advanced semiconductors, but the island was once known for its bananas. In the 1960s, Taiwan dubbed itself the “Banana Kingdom.” Earlier, during the Japanese colonial period (1895–1945), the island was famous for its pineapples and bananas.

Nelson Yang’s company, Farm to Material, headquartered in Changhua, central Taiwan, is converting banana fiber into fabric. Yang hopes that one day the fiber will be used by global sneaker brands.

“In 2008, some European sneaker brands told us that they were looking for a way to produce both food and raw materials from the same land. We started working on that idea. We are now making sure that all our ingredients come from agro-food or food industry waste, which we convert into usable raw materials,” he told Reuters.

The company is collecting the middle part of banana trees, which is usually thrown away after harvesting, and making fibers. These can be used to make yarn that can be mixed with cotton to make socks, and can also be used to make vegan leather.

However, the business is still in its early stages and no orders have been received from any clothing companies.

“Banana fiber has shown better results than cotton in terms of water use, absorbency and supply stability, so its use is very promising in the future. Banana fiber can create a new niche for Taiwan in the textile industry,” said Charlotte Chiang, director of the Taiwan Textile Federation’s innovation and sustainable design department.