WASTE NOT WANT NOT: Banana Business – Dig More Japan
paper, stationery, letter sets, and notebooks. These products are currently sold in 29 countries around the world, including Japan and the [Music] UK. The paper is all made from banana plant stems in Zambia. Each year, stems grow to a great size, but they’re usually discarded. [Music] Ecberg Satle makes banana stem paper working to increase farmer income and create new [Music] jobs. We are using the banana fibers which grows uh only one year instead of the the normal paper uh material which is the wood uh pulp which is growing sometimes five six years up to 30 years. Therefore, our banana paper is a more sustainable way of uh making papers. She purchases stems from partner banana farmers. Fibers are extracted at this factory. All the workers here are local [Music] Zambians. Buying banana stems at a fair price also helps bolster farmers incomes. [Music] In the beginning, they had difficulty finding partners, but they now have contracts with some 60 banana farms. Before I get a job from banana factory, it was very difficult for me to have something that I can take someone to college. But once I get a job now things are easy for me. Paper making and development are currently done in Japan but they hope to expand local operations in Zambia. [Music]
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The rapid growth of banana plants makes them ripe for the picking when it comes to producing sustainable paper products.