The leftover stems and leaves of the potato are the world’s largest untapped agricultural feedstock. Currently pulverised and incinerated, this unusable organic material cannot be fed to livestock or turned into quality fertiliser. Fibe, a startup utilising potato harvest waste to create fibres, has won Fashion District's 2024 Manufacturing Futures Innovation Challenge

Fibe is a material science London based startup developing the world’s first textile fibres out of potato harvest waste. The company is developing the most scale, affordable and sustainable textile fibres with comparable performance to mainstream materials. They will receive £15,000 ($19,212) to advance their innovation and grow their business.

150 million tonnes of waste gets left to rot with no economic value to the farmer or the circular economy. With Fibe’s patent-pending technology, it could be used to replace up to 70% of the world’s natural fibre demand.

In addition to its vast availability, Fibe’s potato-based fibres display unique properties likening them to conventional --