Month: March 2021

Leather: imitated but not equaled

Content posted by: Lederpiel.

Lederpiel publishes, this March, a news item entitled “Leather, imitated but not equaled”. It explains that a study has recently been carried out in Europe to assess a total of 9 alternatives to leather of animal origin and that they are promoted as alternatives to it.

Specifically, the elements studied were Desserto (cactus), Kombucha (mushroom), Pinatex (pineapple), Noani (eucalyptus), Appleskin (apple skin), Vegea (grape residue), SnapPap (paper skin), Teak Leaf (teak leaves) and Muskin (mushroom). The samples were analyzed at the independent Research Institute for Leather and Synthetic Materials (FILK) in Freiberg, Germany. The FILK examined the technical properties of these nine leather alternatives, resulting in the Trend Alternatives for Skin Study. The conclusion of this report is clear: none of the substitutes tested exhibited all the intrinsic characteristics of the skin, while some of the substitutes were found to contain chemicals of concern.

For the European association of tanners, “the result of the study concludes that until today the leather is much superior to its substitutes. It is important that customers and consumers are aware of the deficit in properties of alternative materials.

You can access the original content HERE.

What is leather made of and where does it come from?

Content posted by: Leather Naturally

Leather Naturally has recently published a very didactic article entitled “What is leather made of and where does it come from?”.

Interesting aspects emerge from this publication, such as as the main origin of the hides of our industry: they mostly come from cattle, followed very far by sheeps, goats and pigs.

In addition, it answers interesting questions for the communication of the tanning industry. The production process is explained by answering the question “How does a hide become hard-wearing, beautiful leather?” and, in addition, it also analyzes which are the main typologies of leather and in which countries a greater production takes place: Italy, China and Brazil.

This is a very visual and simple article, highly recommended reading.

You can read the original article HERE.

Leather: the best example of a circular economy product

Video posted by: Cotance

The 2nd Social and Environmental Report of the European Leather Industry is an EU-sponsored joint initiative from COTANCE and industriAll-Europe, the Social Partners of the industry. Their aim is to help tanneries position themselves against a European benchmark, measure their progress over time, serve as a communication tool for the public, and as a model for other regions of the world.

In today’s markets, transparency is key and European tanneries have understood this well and taken appropriate action. They strive towards excellence in social and environmental performance.

Judge for yourself the commitment of the men and women of Europe’s tanneries, to sustainability:

Disclaimer:

This video has been funded with support from the European Commission. The sole responsibility for the content of this video lies with the authors. It does not represent the opinion of the EU.

The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.