Picking pineapples can be arduous¹, heavy work often with little reward. The price paid for each individual fruit is a fraction of a penny.

 

采摘菠蘿可是一項苦差事，而且往往回報甚微。每個菠蘿的價格僅是一便士的零頭。

 

The leaves from pineapple plants are usually thrown away. A use for them has now been found, turning the leaves into fabric² – which provides some extra incomefor workers.

 

I think everybody was quite surprised that the fabric was made of pineapple. Because it doesn't smell like pineapple, it's not spikey, it's got a nice texture³ to it. So it's quite an unusual thing to be working with.

 

To make the fabric, fibres are extracted from the leaves. These get sent from the Philippines to Spain. Once there, machinists complete the process of turning them into a material which has been named 'Pinatex'.

 

An online shop based in Cambridge has begun using Pinatex to create handbags, satchels⁴ and purses.

 

And these are the finished bags. If you want one, they'll set you backaround 137 pounds. The texture is slightly crinkled – not too different to some leathers.

 

As manufacturers become more confident using the material, it's hoped more items will be made out of it in the future, making use of pineapple leaves that were otherwise destined⁵ to be wasted.

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