Banana leather

© Banofi

Materials

Upcycling Fruit Waste Brings Another Innovation: ‘Banofi’ Banana Leather

Banofi is a premium banana leather developed by Kolkata-based material innovation firm Atma Leather by upcycling banana crop waste and transforming it into fibres. India, said to be the world’s largest producer of bananas, generating four tons of waste for every ton of fruit, is also one of the world’s largest leather exporters. Jinali Mody, Atma’s founder, saw the value of using banana waste in the creation of a petroleum-free, premium plant-based material in order to offer an alternative to leather in a cowhide dominant market. Sustainability challenge Mody took her idea to Startup Yale in April 2022, succeeding in securing $25,000 from the Sustainable Venture Prize to launch her company, Atma (meaning “soul”), with the aim of tackling two sustainability fronts: crop waste and …

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