London, Oct 10 - Researchers are pioneering a new technique for the use of banana plants in the production of plastic products.

The Polymer Processing Research Centre (PPRC) at Queen's University, Ireland, is taking part in the study known as the Badana project.

"Almost 20 percent of the bananas consumed in Europe are produced in the Canary Islands, with around 10 million banana plants grown annually in Gran Canaria alone," Mark Kearns of the PPRC said.

"Once the fruit has been harvested, the rest of the banana plant goes to waste. An estimated 25,000 tonnes of this natural fibre is dumped in ravines around the Canaries every year."

"The Badana project aims to find a use for these plants. The natural fibres contained within them may be used in the production of rotationally moulded plastics, which are used to make daily items like oil tanks, wheelie bins, water tanks, traffic cones, plastic dolls and many types of boats."

"The banana plant fibres will be processed, treated and added to a mix of plastic material and sandwiched between two thin layers of pure plastic providing excellent structural properties. The project gives a whole new meaning to 'banana sandwich'," Queen's release quoted Kearns as saying.

"This new technique will have substantial environmental benefits. It will hopefully result in a substantial reduction in the amount of Polyethylene used in the rotational moulding process," said Kearns. (IANS)