The leather industry is becoming increasingly aware of consumer concerns about the use of animal by-products and the negative environmental impact (high global carbon dioxide emissions). Today, the synthetic-based leather is commonly made from fossil-based raw materials and lack biodegradability, thus leading to plastic pollution. The existing plant-based leather solutions on the market are mostly containing varying amounts of plastics that are not recyclable, nor compostable.
To follow on our step 1 project, we will continue to utilize and valorize biodegradable raw materials from domestic side streams (bark from Brunneby Musteri AB and and bark from SCA Massa AB) and apply green chemistry principles to achieve bio-degradable non-animal leather-like material. RISE together with previous project initiator (Irmas Fabric AB) and the expanded consortium of another eight industrial partners has defined a project to further optimize material and processes with these two side-streams, including formulating right amounts of apple pomace and bark with bio-based additives (including cross-linkers) to tailor material’s physical properties, whereas the intended product should have the appropriate material performance and durability for applications in fashion industry.
We plan to focus on simplifying the processing steps and proceed with trials of leather-like materials at smaller scale with the production partners (Sjuhäradsbygdens Färgeri AB, Nordifa AB) and then prepare demonstrators with the fashion retailers (House of Dagmar AB, , Triwa AB, Vagabond International AB, BezBukvy AB). The unique and well-composed company group covers key steps in the value chain, from raw material producers to reflecting the importance they see in the project.
Participants
RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, SCA Massa, Brunneby Musteri, Irmas Fabric, House of Dagmar, BezBukvy, Triwa, Vagabond International, Nordifa and Sjuhäradsbygdens Färgeri.
Budget & time plan
The project’s total budget is 6 075 000 SEK and the project runs for two years – between June 2023 and June 2025.
Read about Bio-based Scandinavian vegan leather based on forest and food side streams – step 1.