User:John Cummings/Archive/Bananatex

Bananatex is a natural biodegradable fabric made using Abacá banana plant fibres, also known as Manila hemp. The plants are grown in the Philippines as part of a sustainable forestry initiative in Catanduanes. Bananatex is used in both Qwestion products and by other companies. It is manufactured uncoated or with a natural beeswax waterproof coating and in different colours. Banantex is distributed through QWSTION International GmbH.

Development
Bananatex was developed over three years by Swiss fashion brand Qwstion, which was founded in 2008 to research renewable materials to replace synthetic textiles. It was created in collaboration with a Taiwanese yarn specialist weaving company to address environmental, economic and social sustainability issues of petroleum based synthetic materials in the textile manufacturing industry.

Production Process
Unlike cotton and some other natural fibres Abacá plants require no pesticides, herbicides or irrigation. This allows reforestation in areas which were monoculture oil palm plantations and in deforested rainforest cut down for lumber. Growing the Abacá plants reduces erosion, increases biodiversity and enriches the soil.

Cultivation:
The Abacá plants are grown in Catanduanes in the Philippine highlands without the use of water or pesticides. The banana plant is harvested three times per year.

Material Properties
The fibre of Abacá hemp has many different industrial applications due to its extremely high mechanical strength and length of 2 to 3 metres. These mechanical properties make Bananatex strong and durable, while also being soft, lightweight and flexible.

Awards and prizes

 * 2020: German Sustainability Award Design 2021 Winner (Category: Pioneers)
 * 2019: Bundespreis Ecodesign Winner (Category: Product)
 * 2019: Design Preis Schweiz Winner (Category: Textile Design)
 * 2019: Green Product Award 2019, Category: Material for Bananatex® by QWSTION
 * 2019: Cannes Corporate Media and TV Awards 2019, Gold in category: Marketing Communication B2C for Bananatex®
 * 2018: Goldener Hase, Category: Design for Bananatex by QWSTION

External Link

 * Bananatex website
 * QWSTION website