Natural Fibre Technologies is a company focused on whole-crop utilization: adding value to the agricultural residues after the seed has been removed.
We believe farmers need a more diverse range of options to get value from their production. Our ‘whole-crop’ approach is built around the idea that farmers should participate in realizing the latent potential in their crops.
Our ‘whole-crop’ utilization approach is built around creating more value from farm produce which is otherwise unused or under-utilized, creating new income sources at the farm gate.
Each growing season countless tonnes of biomass from food crops go to waste after harvest. This 'waste' is one of the best opportunities we possess to shift our future away from non-renewables and/or slow-growth forest resources.
Adding Value to the Farm Gate
The value chain for non-food agricultural output starts with processing and refining bulk material, but it doesn’t end there. Renewable agricultural residuals—hemp and flax in particular—have amazing properties that have been used by people for centuries. For instance, hemp is an environmentally friendly plant. It is adept at sequestering large amounts of carbon and in certain instances it can help build soil health. It is fast-growing, biodegradable and valuable, making it one of the best renewable products on the planet.
We are focused on utilizing the unique properties in agricultural biomaterials to produce more value for producers. We already have products in development that are market-ready and our vision is to continue to develop commercial and consumer products that offer more shared value for producers and consumers.
One major area of focus for NFT is offering construction product specifiers and users sustainable biocomposite products with ecological or green benefits. Many of our products qualify for LEED credits, and we’re proud that we can help designers and builders increase their LEED credits for higher certification standards.
Replacing slow-GROWTH reSOURCES
There are many product categories where agricultural biomass is a suitable or superior replacement for slow-growth resources, particularly forestry products. We live in an environment that cannot afford to overuse our forests for unnecessary purposes. The annual production of agriculture–a necessary activity–already provides us with ample material to make products we can use in countless applications.
NFT puts a large emphasis on creating products that outperform their slow-renewable counterparts. We believe that superior performance and value is compels change much more than environmental altruism.