ISLAMABAD: A team of scientists from the National Textile University successfully extracted fibre from banana bark and made it usable for the textile industry, opening up new possibilities for Pakistan’s troubled textile sector. The team, led by DrYasir Nawab is positive that this development has the potential to revolutionize the textile sector and bolster the struggling economy as it transforms fruit waste into raw materials for the production of textile fibres Consumers’ growing awareness of ethical fashion has led to an ever-increasing demand for the use of natural fibres in not just garments but the whole textile industry, said Mujeebullah Khan, a team member representing the textile industry. He added that this invention would not only save billions of dollars in foreign exchange but also reduce environmental pollution by extracting one million tons of fibre from banana stems and turning them into yarn. Farmers’ lives will change as a result of using 90% of the leftover banana crop waste to produce fertilizer and electricity. DNA
