It could transform the performance of a pickleball paddle, a snowboard, a surfboard, even a rally car.
It could also reduce our reliance on carbon fibre, restore Māori tikanga and use unproductive land sustainably.
For Ben Scales and William Murrell (Ngāi Tahu), co-founders of KiwiFibre in Christchurch, the potential of composite materials based on the durability, strength and energy-absorbing properties of harakeke is nothing short of world-changing.
“We solve the world’s challenges by using natural materials that enable humanity to thrive,” Scales says. “We use harakeke and composite textiles to replace carbon fiber and fiberglass, which pose significant environmental, human and technical challenges.”
And the market potential?
“There are many markets, worth trillions of dollars. Almost everything starts with textiles.”
Early Māori regarded harakeke as a taonga. It was used for clothing, footwear, traps, mats, kete, fishing nets, lashings for waka and raft making and, due to its antiseptic properties, traditional medicines.
The early Pākehā also recognised the potential of harakeke for flooring, insulation and, most importantly, rope.
The first patent for a sheet stripping machine was granted in 1861 and by the 1890s the flax industry was booming.
Vaughan Templeton, curator of the still-operating Templeton Flax Mill Heritage Museum on Otaitai Beach near Riverton, points to a photo of his great-grandfather William Templeton, who started a commercial flax mill on the site in 1911.
“It was New Zealand's largest export by volume – bigger than butter, bigger than wool, bigger than timber.”
In 1905, when flax processing was at its peak, there were about 240 mills throughout the country.
From the end of the First World War the industry began to decline. This was the result of the depression, which saw flax exports fall from 20,000 tons to less than 4,000 tons in just two years. The arrival of a 'yellow leaf disease', the availability of cheaper synthetic fibres and the invention of petrol and diesel engines also played a role.
By 1972, almost all commercial flax processing factories in New Zealand had closed.
Half a century later, Scales and Murrell were engineering students at the University of Canterbury. One of their assignments was to solve the problem of cabbage leaves. Because they can damage composting machines, they cannot be recycled through green bin collection systems. The same problem, they realized, prevented the composting of harakeke leaves.
Looking for applications for the flax (botanically speaking, harakeke is not flax, but a lily from the Hemerocallis family), they used a barbecue in a student flat to make a prototype skateboard from the fibre. It was a success.
By the time Scales and Murrell graduated in December 2022, they were 23. They had founded KiwiFibre Innovations and raised $1.5 million to develop the fiber for high-tech industrial applications. They were also active in the world of capital raising and angel investing.
They experimented with a front bumper for an electric rally car for the road, which was half the weight of the original front bumper.