Turning banana fibre into cloth or paper

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

This caught my attention yesterday.

The tons of banana trunks left over after harvesting are being turned into raw material for clothing and paper, while mechanical extraction and controlled drying are accelerating industrialization

...researchers estimate that banana pseudostems generate tens of millions of tons of waste every year in producer countries such as Brazil.

Seems like it could be a good idea.

 

[Morning Glory]

I hadn't realised the tree trunks were discarded. I had thought they would go on producing for years.

 

[Barriehie]

Like she said.

 

[badjak]

Once the banana trunk/stem has produced, it dies..

 

[karadekoolaid]

I hadn't realised the tree trunks were discarded. I had thought they would go on producing for years.

Bananas reproduce for years (probably forever) but once the tree/bush/whatever produces a hand of bananas, it dies. New shoots appear at the base of the banana as it grows, and these shoots convert into new banana plants.
Here are some photos from my garden. In the first, you can see the new hand of bananas, which has weighed down the tree (current weight is about 25 kgs). Behind is another, younger growth. In the second photo, you can see two new growths; one in the middle and one (tiny) on the right hand side. The thick trunk on the left just produced a huge hand of bananas and is now dying. Third pic is a close up of a new growth.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Seems like it could be a good idea.

It's fascinating. To me it's a "now why didn't we think of that before?" situation. When you think we use flax and hemp (which are grass-like) to make fibre, the banana should be a whole lot easier. Additionally, I'd say bananas are possibly the most popular tropical fruit in the world so there are millions and billions of tons of raw material out there.

 

[Barriehie]

So the tree lasts but the banana clumps/hands reproduce?

 

[Z-Cook]

So the tree lasts but the banana clumps/hands reproduce?

Not a tree - a plant base/clump that produces fibrous shoots i.e. the 'trees' (flower stems) that in turn each produce a flower which produces a fruit clump - scroll up a couple of posts

 

[Barriehie]

Kind of like garlic, except bananas.

 

[Z-Cook]

Kind of like garlic, except bananas.

Kind of - except that garlic is an edible bulb and bananas are the edible fruit of a banana clump flower
Banana stem flower

 

[Barriehie]

Kind of - except that garlic is an edible bulb and bananas are the edible fruit of a banana clump flower
Banana stem flower

Yes, meant more like the plant.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Botanically speaking, a banana is a herb:
"botany : a seed-producing annual, biennial, or perennial that does not develop persistent woody tissue but dies down at the end of a growing season"
The fruit-bearing plant dies once the fruit is ripe, Barriehie. Shoots appear from the bottom and they, in turn, convert into fruit-bearing plants.
Nature is definitely wierd.