Recently five Egyptian researchers claimed to have developed the world’s first high-performance fibers and reinforcements from date palm pruning by-products such as frond and fruit stalks, also called PalmFil. The renewable and cost-effective fiber is compatible with textile and composite processing and offers the properties required for future lightweight automobiles.
Mostly concentrated in the Middle East and North Africa, there are more than 140 million date palms, producing more than 4.8 million tons (dry weight) of pruning by-products per year which are considered agricultural waste.
These by-products can be converted into 1,3 million tons of natural textile fibers
per annum, ranking third after cotton and jute, said Mohamad Midani, PalmFil Consortium partner.
The obtained new product can be used for many purposes such as natural reinforcements for composites in automotive and athletic goods, in building plaster reinforcements, packaging burlap bags, ties, twines, non-wood papers and other consumer products.
