plant fibres strength

• retting is when a plant stem is cut or pulled up and left to rot in a field so that fibres are broken down and exposed
• water retting is the best method however is more expensive and produces nitrogen rich waste which is harmful
• tensile strength of a fibre is the maximum load it can take before it breaks
• tensile strength is important because we can find out if the fibre is used for its correct job
• define sustainability 


  renewable

  can be regrown

  resources can be made available for future generation

  resources will not run out
• plant fibres


  used to make rope, clothes

  used in place of plastics and other synthetic fibres
• starch 


  replace oil to make bioplastics

  produce biofuel