Biodegradable leather is a concept that has been emerging in recent times due to the environmental concerns that are being felt. As we know, the current rhythm of life that human beings have is leading to the exhaustion of natural resources, climate change, extinction of species, and many other problems.
In this sense, it is important that companies and industries adopt more sustainable measures and that the circular economy is put into practice.
What is it?
When we talk about biodegradable leather, there are different kinds of views that can emerge. Nowadays, we can call biodegradable leather that type of fake leather, that is, which is made from a plant-based material and whose raw material is biodegradable, such as the case of pineapple or more recently tea.
What we propose
However, the biodegradable leather that we propose and that you can find on our website has a completely innovative concept, following the concept proposed by Ecotan.
Animal skins, left over from the food industry, when left untreated end up decomposing much faster. To reverse this situation, vegetable tannins are used, which are natural molecules that are used by plants to protect themselves. The tannins connect to the skins, allowing the leather to be preserved and last longer.
In this way, the leather will perform as expected. In other words, maintain the expected leather quality, with the advantage that no dangerous or harmful products are used in the tanning process.
It should be noted that untanned leather (raw leather) is obviously a biodegradable material. However, when the traditional tanning process is applied, the leather becomes a non-biodegradable material due to the chemicals used during the process.
The great innovation is that thanks to the ecological tanning process, the leather is biodegradable. This makes it possible to give leather a new life. In this case fertilizers are created for organic farming, thus giving back to nature what was taken from it.
The linear economy that is practiced by most industries leads to resources being extracted, consumed, and thrown away. This leads to great environmental concerns on the part of the population.
To reverse this situation, this new biodegradable leather has a biocircular approach that is positive for the planet and the environment. Every component of this leather, whether it is the animal skin or the tanning agents, is biocircular. This means that when the product reaches the end of its useful life, this biodegradable leather can have a new life, being turned into organic fertilizer.
It is possible to say that this innovation allows the leather tanning process to be cleaner and more environmentally friendly, that products made with this leather have an extended life cycle, and that at the end of their useful life, they are returned to nature.
