Tequila is the drink of choice for most spirit drink enthusiasts in Mexico. This potent alcoholic beverage is made of the agave fruit which grows in many parts of Mexico. Technically, it is only the agave juice that is needed for the production of tequila, the rest of the fruit was considered unusable by the industry and leftovers were left to rot in the fields where the fruit was harvested. It must be noted though, that agave fruits take up to ten long years to grow and mature enough to be ready for harvesting. This translates to lots of farming costs and effort in order to grow the agave, condition the soil etc. In other words, this is a decade worth of energy that can be reused.
A big industrial product and supply company, took note of the large amount of agave scraps left behind after harvesting and wanted to figure out a way to put these to good use. Research and development teams working for the company on three continents, decided to make it happen and figure out a use for the agave leftovers, which are mainly fibres called bagasse. As one of the researchers was quoted saying – Sustainability is also about unlocking materials’ hidden potential, and this is exactly what they did. The main problem with agave fibres or bagasse, were their stickiness and flammability, which made the researchers, look in all sorts of directions for a way to treat the fibres and make them usable.
Eventually, it was decided to subject bagasse to a number of chemical and physical treatments in order to produce a non-flammable, nonwoven material. The experiment was successful and the new material had the necessary properties to become an organic, sustainable sponge. The company plans to develop more uses for the agave fibres so that the cleaning industry can choose from different types of materials and supplies made through sustainable technology and resources. The agave fibre sponge has excellent absorption and retention properties thus making it ideal for household cleaning purposes. The agave fibre sponge is also quite resistant and handles scrubbing quite well. The new cleaning material or sponge, is said to outlast an average of thirty rolls of conventional paper towels.
The sponge itself is made of fifty percent reworked agave fibres, and twenty three percent other organic, recycled materials. The agave sponge will be sold as a non-scratch scrubbing product.
