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About Jute Versatile, durable, cost effective and completely biodegradable…....there is little to rival Jute.
Grown on small farms using traditional methods in the Ganges and Brahmaputra valleys of Bangladesh and India and known as the "golden fibre", Jute is truly a natural organic fibre. It's a tropical cousin of the European lime or linden tree and it is obtained from two varieties of plants: Corchorus Capsularis or Corchorus Olitorus. The plants, which grow up to 12 ft (3.6m) tall, have a layer of fibre (called sclerenchyma) in their woody stems.
Farmers cut the flowering stems down, dry them under the sun and then soak them in flowing water to loosen the bark and dissolve the gum that holds the woody fibres together. This process is called "retting". The fibre is then extracted by hand.
The fibres in Jute are uneven in diameter and are highly resistant to stretching but individually brittle - so they develop microscopic fractures during the weaving process. These two factors give Jute its natural and slightly rough appearance. Jute is a major item in the world's commodity markets and the finer grades can be seen in fashion, luggage and home furnishing. It is also known as hessian and burlap. Interesting facts about Jute
- Jute is a fast growing crop with a much higher carbon dioxide assimilation rate than trees. One hectare of Jute plants consume over 15 tonnes of CO2, several times higher than trees.
- The Jute industry finanially supports an estimated 5 million people in the poorest regions on Earth.
- Abundant availability – a renewable and sustainable resource.
- Durable material – has the life span of over a thousand plastic carrier bags.
- Jute is a natural bast fibre, a vegetable fibre composed of cellulose which is the main building material of all plants and like all natural fibres, is totally bio-degradeable. This means that when discarded, jute totally decomposes, putting valuable nutrients back into the soil.
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