Complete pineapple waste solutions including decortication for textile production

The project has made significant progress in its business development, technology development and operations despite numerous challenges. A key highlight from the last quarter is the use of the project’s fibre by a local (Kenya) fashion house, LilaBare, in the clothing line for the Lagos Fashion Week held in October 2024.

Business Development:

• The project continued to deliver fibre to NextEvo Naturals in Vietnam. The project faced challenges with meeting the Oeko Tex 100 standards for garments, which are a priority for NextEvo. The project worked together with NextEvo to reduce the levels of manganese and nickel in the fibre to levels that meet the Oeko 100 standards. Another key learning from the export of the fibre is that there is a long waiting period between the shipment of fibre to the receipt of funds. This poses a challenge to cashflow for sustaining the business.
• The project continues exploring markets for the pineapple fibre in Vietnam, Bangladesh and Japan. The Bangladesh regulations prohibit and do not cater for pineapple fibre, raising challenges with accessing the Bangladesh market. This gap in regulation presents an opportunity to contribute to the development of favourable trade regulations in Bangladesh to bolster the industry.
• Several companies have expressed significant interest in the decorticator technology once it has been commercialised. These include TexFad (Uganda), who are using banana waste to produce fibre; Ananas Anam (Phillipines) who produce alternative leather products using pineapple fibre; and Compagnie Frutiere a large fruit and vegetable distributor in Europe. There is also a growing interest in the mobile harvester design through the project.
• Opportunities to scale-up the project on the Del Monte farm and with other stakeholders in the region are being explored.

Technology developments:

• The project now has 4 decortication machines in place, primarily designed to process pineapple leaves.
• An auto-brushing machine has been designed to improve the quality of fibre to a standard that meets the market requirements.
• The application of the pineapple leaf decortication technology was successfully tested with pineapple stems and banana stems. The fibres produced from the stem have application potential similar to coconut coir. Initial conversations with Coco360 (The FRESHPPACT Project, funded by SMEP) have been undertaken to investigate the use of these fibres in the production of mulch.

Operations:

• The project has successfully developed four iterations of the decortication machines.
• To date more than 1,500 tonnes of pineapple waste was diverted from the Del Monte pineapple fields, and over 40 tonnes of pineapple fibre has been produced.
• The project site has incorporated the use of renewable energy through the installation of solar; as well as the installation of a rainwater harvesting system.

Biochar trials

• The use of pineapple stems to produce biochar was trialled over a 6 month period. The results show that the production of biochar from pineapple stems is technically viable, however it is not financially viable. As a result, the biochar trials are discontinued. Knowledge outputs on the trial will be published during the course of the next few months. The knowledge products include an integrated business model, a life cycle assessment, a carbon credit road map, a soil nutrient enhancement analysis, and a social impact assessment.
• The project has successfully trialled the use of biochar in wastewater treatment allowing for reuse and improving the quality of waste water released in the environment.

GESI

• The project partnered with 3 local smallholder banana farmers, where the farmers received biochar-enriched compost in exchange for their pineapple waste.
• The project has created employment for +85 people, of whom 50% are women. The project actively recruits women in all levels and positions in the company, both skilled and unskilled, and certainly doesn’t hold on to the perception that certain jobs are unsuitable for women.
• Extensive occupational health and safety training is provided to project staff. In addition, various onsite measures are in place to ensure staff safety, including provision of protective clothing, warning signs, routine inspection and maintenance of machinery; provision of clean water in the fields.
• Medical assessments were conducted to ensure that all employees do not have any health issues which may be exacerbated by the roles that they fulfil e.g. an asthmatic in a dusty environment.
• The project provides facilities that cater for staff wellbeing including a canteen where subsidised lunch and tea is provided, clean ablution facilities, and transport to ensure safe commute to and from the project site.
• The project has put in place a weaving workshop which creates employment for women and disabled persons. The workshop makes use of the pineapple fibre to produce crafts-like baskets and mats. The project has partnered with TexFad (a partner on the Banatex-EA project funded by SMEP in Uganda), to provide training at the workshop.
• The project is committed to supporting local business by making use of local vendors.

GHG Emissions Reduction

• Between 2023 and 2024, the project reached 46 tCO2e reduction and is on track to achieve a reduction of 335-339 tCO2e between 2024 and 2025.

Knowledge outputs

• A case study has been published providing the results of the gender and social inclusion assessments and lifecycle assessment.