Idan Gal-Shohet

Making fashion textiles from crop waste

The challenge

When crops such as potatoes are harvested, their stalks are simply discarded. Given the vast size of the global potato market – estimated to be worth $111 billion – these stalks are therefore a significant waste stream. Much of this agricultural residue is then burned or chemically treated, causing environmental problems. ​And ​it's​ not just potatoes; billions of tonnes of residue ​is underutilised every​ year by the agricultural industry. But this is changing – and instead of being considered waste, it is powering the next wave of sustainable fashion.​ 

The innovation

Fibe, co-founded by Idan Gal-Shohet, is partnering with local farmers, collecting their waste stalks​​ and processing these into textile-grade fibres with performance comparable to cotton or linen, without requiring additional land and using dramatically less water. 

This innovative approach to clothing production is critical to transforming the fashion industry’s environmental impact – responsible for an estimated 2-8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. And with demand for apparel projected to rise by roughly 30% between 2020 and 2030, there is a growing need for these resource-intensive materials.

With the Green Future Fellowship funding, Fibe aims to significantly increase global production of these new types of fibres, finding​ ​a use for the billions of tonnes of agricultural residue produced each year. If scaled successfully, the technology could produce large amounts of sustainable fibre while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving water, and decreasing pressure on land used for agriculture.

The innovator

Gal-Shohet has always been interested in building things and studied design engineering at Imperial College London. He knew very early on that he wanted to launch a startup and was grateful to find a fantastic group of people at university to join him. 

They collectively set up Fibe after a eureka moment when one of his colleagues began growing potatoes during the COVID-19 lockdown. After realising that potato stems are poisonous – and the extent of organic waste therefore produced by the potato industry – the idea of designing a technology to make use of this waste stream was planted.

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A moment of reflection while growing potatoes over lockdown led to a eureka moment that has the potential to transform the future of fashion.