Do Old Pineapple Leaves Have Any Use?

well out here in Thailand they are sometimes feed to elephants, 

 but in the Philippines Carmen Hijosa, a consultant in the Philippines leather goods industry, who was unhappy with the standard of produced textiles and sought sustainable alternatives, and in so doing created Piñatex, it is a leather-like textile made from pineapple leaves, not to be confused with piña, which is both the Spanish word for pineapple and a silky yarn also derived from the leaves of that very fruit,

leather was becoming more and more scarce in the Philippines and the processing was devastating natural resources, it took Hijosa five years to develop Piñatex at the Royal College of Art back in the 1990s, in her own words: "I was looking for an alternative to leather...That was the beginning of my thinking... We...are an alternative...to leather and to petroleum-based textiles, which is sustainable and has a strong sociological and ecological background...There is a gap in the market between petroleum-based textiles and leather,...and that is the gap that Piñatex is really seeking." what was the inspiration for Piñatex? in the beginning, Hijosa's focus was to create an alternative to leather that looked just like it, She soon realised the new textile had only one function as far as appearances went, and that was to look just like itself and nothing else, She found inspiration in the traditional, embroidered apparel of her native land, particularly the Barong Tagalog, a thin, transparent embroidered men's garment worn over a shirt, 

due to the fact that Piñatex is made from leaves that are a byproduct of pineapple harvesting, this textile is both sustainable and less expensive than leather, manufacturing involves cutting up the discarded fibers, layering and then processing them into a textile of varying densities, via dyeing, printing and treating, the process can create diverse textures, and can also be adapted to convert the material into fertiliser to boost local economy, designers such as Ally Campino have utilised this material to make handbags, sneaker giant, Puma, has also created sample shoes using Piñatex, this new textile, which bears a similarity to canvas, is also garnering interest within the accessories and upholstery markets, according to Hijosa: "We can make chairs, sofas and panelling, eventually, this synthetic leather can be made into car interiors, even linings." what a great way to make a new sustainable product.