Ecology

Round table on the biodegradability of leather, organized by Leather Cluster Barcelona

28 / 03 / 2022

Content published by: Leather Cluster Barcelona

On February 28th, the Leather Cluster Barcelona organized a round table on the biodegradability of leather at the Adoberia Bella in Igualada.

The day generated great interest among the leather industry, bringing together more than 40 people. The event was welcomed by Jordi Vidal, Executive Director of Leather Cluster Barcelona, ​​who thanked the audience and the participation of the speakers for reflecting on one of the major current issues in the leather sector.

Before starting the round table and as an introduction to it, Vidal explained the project that the Puma brand will carry out next May in Germany. Puma will test its biodegradable sneakers on 500 people. They are expected to wear the shoes for six months and then return them to Puma, which will test their biodegradability in the controlled environment of an industrial composting plant.

The speakers then presented different projects and initiatives to expand knowledge about the biodegradability of leather and to assess how biodegradable and compostable leather is compared to other materials.

The round table consisted of:

  • Anna Bacardit from (A3 Leather Innovation Center)
  • Olga Ballús (Chromogeny)
  • Salvador Esquerra (Quimser)
  • Jordi Escabros (Trumpler)
  • Michael Costello (Stahl)

During the interventions of the different speakers, such interesting topics were discussed as the definitions of biodegradability and compostability, what conditions and requirements a leather must meet to be perfectly compostable, the importance of time as a key parameter when talking about biodegradability or differences in biodegradability and compostability of natural leather and treated leather.

The presentation of different business experiences on biodegradability also helped to reflect from the point of view of the motivations of consumers when making their purchases: are buyers just looking for sustainability?

The day ended with an open debate among the attendees in which the importance of the cluster being able to lead and drive a project on the biodegradability of leather with different companies and agents of the value chain of the leather industry. A project that can provide information and value to estimate with scientific rigor in what conditions and time limits are biodegradable and compostable different leather types and what comparative differences we find in terms of biodegradability between leather and synthetics and new materials.

Leather Cluster Barcelona is an environment of competitive cooperation to promote transversal and transformative strategic projects with the aim of boosting the ecosystem of the Catalan leather sector. The cluster is an accredited entity within the Catalonia Clusters program and has the support of ACCIÓ.

You can read the original content HERE.