Fibe worked with STFC Hartree Centre through Innovate UK’s BridgeAI to improve the process of turning potato harvest waste into industry ready textiles with more efficient and accurate evaluation of fibre extraction.
Challenge
The unsustainable production of textiles for industries such as fast fashion is contributing massively to the climate crisis, so what can be done to address this? By looking at byproducts and waste produced by different sectors such as agriculture, we could discover new purposes for them and recycle them into something new.
This is exactly what’s happening at Fibe, an organisation that’s creating textiles and clothing through potato harvest waste. Fibe takes the fibrous stalks typically discarded or left to rot in fields and uses them to create natural fibres for textile production with a much lower environmental impact than typical textile crops. However, only certain parts of the stalk can be used in this process. Fibe wanted to make sure they were able to recycle as much material as possible, so needed to clearly understand how successful their fibre extraction processes were.
Approach
STFC Hartree Centre worked with Fibe through an Innovate UK BridgeAI Innovation Voucher alongside the Industry Impact Fund and Analysis for Innovators funding that enabled access to technical expertise and resources to provide insight and support. STFC Hartree Centre supported their sustainability efforts by using data science to understand potential fibre yields from different stems more efficiently and accurately. During the fibre extraction process, there was varying levels of successful extraction, but it was difficult to clarify how successful it was visually, since visual interpretation is subjective.
To address this, STFC Hartree Centre developed a computer vision model that can assess the processed stems. The model is capable of identifying how much potential fibre material remains within a sample and its properties, such as location within the sample and the size of a single fibre. We worked with Fibe to support their sustainability efforts by using data science to understand potential fibre yields from different stems more efficiently and accurately. During the fibre extraction process, there was varying levels of successful extraction, but it was difficult to clarify how successful it was visually, since visual interpretation is subjective.
Benefits
Fibe is now one step closer to their vision of bringing more sustainable textiles to the UK, benefitting farmers, consumers and moving us closer to our net zero goals. Through this work Fibe is better positioned to evaluate their material processing and make improvements as the new process is faster, saving colleague time and organisational finances which can now be redirected into developing the organisation further.
The benefit of using potato harvest waste over traditional textile crops such as cotton is clear, as it doesn’t require extra land or water. With further development of this technology, this could become a robust alternative for textile production in the UK as additional suitable byproducts could be identified, helping the UK to become a more sustainable location for the textiles industry.
With this tool we can verify yield and other fibre properties of any plant based stem, allowing us to potentially bring a whole new fibre to the market.
– Hazel Gonda, Co-founder and CIO Fibe
At a glance
- Addressing fast fashion by supporting the development of sustainable textile solutions for the UK
- Solution allowed more efficient evaluation of fibre extraction, enabling Fibe to improve their processes
- Computer vision technology implemented to support the development of sustainable textiles
- Organisational resources saved that can now be used to further develop the business
BridgeAI
Innovate UK BridgeAI empowers UK businesses in high-growth sectors, driving productivity and economic growth through the adoption of Artificial Intelligence. We bridge the gap between developers and end-users, fostering user-driven AI technologies.
With a focus on ethics, transparency, and data privacy, we aim to build trust and confidence in the development of AI solutions. Strengthening AI leadership, supporting workforces, and promoting responsible innovation, BridgeAI shapes a collaborative and AI-enabled future.
BridgeAI is an Innovate UK funded programme, delivered by a consortium including Innovate UK, Digital Catapult, The Alan Turing Institute, STFC Hartree Centre and BSI.