Turning waste into new materials is certainly not new, but for a duo in Christchurch, the opportunity to turn Harakeke fibre into a carbon-fibre alternative was too good to waste.
Harakeke is commonly mistaken as related to flax. There has been renewed interest in the plant, for use in textiles, oils and cosmetics.
For William Murrell (Ngāi Tahu) and Ben Scales, the co-founders of KiwiFibre, the plant has properties that make it the ideal material for a much more intense purpose.
While studying industrial product design degrees at university, the pair had two professors who challenged them to build a product out of something that goes to landfill.
“Harakeke can’t go into the green bin and go through those processing machines because they’re too tough. So we either thought, these fibres are incredibly tough or these machines are incredibly weak,” Scales said.
The pair then learned of a Swiss company working with sports car manufacturer McLaren, implementing flax linen fibres into the seat of Formula 1 driver Lando Norris’ car.
That inspiration led to Murrell and Scales asking what advantages harakeke fibres have over linen from a performance and sustainability perspective.
“Harakeke fibres are incredibly long, incredibly strong, and those things are quite useful in composites. The length of the fibres is quite a bit greater than linen, and the tensile strength is relatively similar, or it’s at the upper end of the spectrum of linen fibre tensile strength.”
“But many of the advantages come from the actual planting and the way that it’s harvested. That comes back to the tikanga of harvesting and of maintaining the harekeke plant, and those result in advantages both economically and environmentally.”
The result is something Scales believes fills “a gaping hole in the industry”, noting that while it isn’t technically as strong as carbon fibre, it doesn’t need to be.
KiwiFibre claims to have unique properties that carbon fibre doesn’t. It has the benefit of radio transparency, meaning it is invisible to radio waves, and because harakeke is a hollow fibre, it can absorb energy and vibration much better than its counterpart.
The business has partnered with New Zealand rally car driver Hayden Paddon, to create the front and rear bumpers and roof of the driver’s Hyundai Kona EV rally car.
“It’s evident in the rally car. Working with Hayden is a great test for it because rally cars go around gravel roads at 200km/h, getting an absolute beating with stones flying everywhere.”
“That cracks carbon fibre because carbon fibre is so stiff and brittle, but KiwiFibre isn’t, so its durability is up there.”
Scales believes there are a number of applications for KiwiFibre going forward, and rapid advancements made by the business have widened its possibilities.
“It’s a relatively simple substitution conversation for the factories that make products, whether it’s aerospace components or snowboards, each industry is different.”
“Aerospace will benefit from the radio transparency, whereas like snow sports, skiers and snowboards will benefit from the vibration damping. One of the first markets that we’re working with is the snow sports market, mainly out of Europe, but of course, using New Zealand as a bit of a testing ground.”
The business has completed two capital raises which have helped the team build a supply chain and run a harvest season.
Scales suggested the business may have completed the first commercial harakeke harvesting season in more than half a century.
Further funding allowed the business to scale up production and get the first products to customers.
Reaching the finals of the Kiwibank New Zealand Innovator of the Year awards in 2025, and a placement in the Forbes Asia 100 to Watch List in 2024, opens doors to investors and potential customers.
Beyond the commercial and technological impacts, Scales wanted to highlight the unique history and importance of harakeke to New Zealand culture.
“European settlers arrived in New Zealand, they saw what Māori were doing, with how to get it into the fibre, and just thought, oh, it looks like flax, we call it flax, so it’s the biggest misconception.”
“We met some of the characters that ran the historical mills like Vaughan Templeton at the Riverton flax mill down there, and this story was just one that wasn’t widely known in New Zealand. The first patent, the first export, was all harakeke because it was so tough.”
He said events such as Fieldays gave great opportunities to explain tikanga to farmers curious about the harvesting process.
“Basically helping people understand tikanga, which if they can understand it for harakeke, they can understand it for other things. That then improves the country’s cultural understanding as a whole, and I think it’s a wonderful thing.”
Scales believes there are opportunities for the business to boost the Māori economy and create jobs in the regions.
KiwiFibre currently manufactures offshore. Scales says while they are likely to move the rest of the process back home, it isn’t commercially sensible for the business yet.
However, he thinks if there is a thriving industry here within five to 10 years, the opportunity is there.
Scales said he and Murrell feel privileged to be working on the project.
“We love sharing it with people, with the team, it’s an incredible thing for the country. It’s an incredible thing for us, we’re living the dream and we’re incredibly thankful.”
Scales shared he had received an email from a 10-year-old boy called Luke who had seen Hayden Paddon’s car at Dunedin Airport.
Amazed by the car and the technology, Luke asked how he could get his hands on a KiwiFibre BMX bike.
Scales said while there would be millions of KiwiFibre bikes one day, Luke may get the first.
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
ANALYSIS: How New Zealand companies are faring.