Jute is an environmentally friendly bast fibre belonging to the Tiliaceae family - it grows rapidly to 10 - 12 feet in a warm humid climate within 3-4 months of sowing, typically March-June and when harvested, the jute it is cut and retted (submerged in water to enable the fibre to be separated from the rest of the plant), then washed, dried, sorted and baled according to end use.

Traditionally, jute has been grown in India , Bangladesh, Vietnam and China to provide sacking for food crops and other consumer goods. However, jute can be grown wherever climatic conditions permit and large crops are obtained in Brazil's northern areas near the Amazon River system.

The name "jute" is thought to have been derived from "jhol" or "jhout" (Sanskrit "jhat"), the vernacular name by which the substance was known in the Cuttack district where the East India Company formerly had extensive jute roperies.

Originally from the North African coast of the Mediterranean, jute was exported to the Indian subcontinent and became commercially important during British colonial rule; raw jute was exported from the Ganges delta of Bengal to Dundee which became the British centre of the jute mill industry, transforming the raw jute material into cordage, jute ropes, jute sacks and other jute products.

The demand was such that in 1855, jute mills were established in West Bengal, transforming the local rural economy so that jute became the major cash crop. With Indian Partition in 1947, because the jute mills fell on the Indian West Bengal side whereas cultivation was on the then East Pakistan side, new jute mills were established in East Pakistan, later to become Bangladesh. Jute production since then has continued to employ large numbers in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, but the growth of the plastics packaging industry has weakened international demand for the product.

However, more recently, the environmental effects of plastics are being increasingly realised. Jute, as a natural fibre is environmentally friendly, biodegradable, does not block the soil and if burnt is similar to wood (jute stalks are used in rural areas as an important source of cooking fuel). Jute can be used in paper making without needing to be bleached with chlorine and has various ancillary uses particularly in rural areas which do not impact on the environment.

Used in sacking, jute allows contents to breathe and prevents the sweating associated with plastics - it can also be re-used many times. Jute has the additional benefit for rice growers of restoring fertility to the soil; after three years of rice cultivation, farmers are likely to grow jute for one year to add biomass to the soil and restore the moisture depleted by the rice cultivation.

In contrast, the problems associated with plastic bags and their disposal have led to pollution, blocked drains and a recent Bangladesh Government edict banning their use in Bangladesh which it is hoped will lead to a renewed interest in the use of jute as a safe, cheap and enrivonmentally friendly packaging material.