We regularly come across the term vegan leather or plant-based leather. In fashion, but also in automotive or furniture industry. More and more people are choosing a substitute for animal skins to process into jackets, shoes, belts and bags. Alternatives made of apples, pineapple, plastic, fungi or coconut water. Say what! Yes indeed, coconut water! In many cases, vegan leather is touted as a sustainable alternative to animal leather. That gets us excited! But how sustainable and green are these leather alternatives really? Mascha dove into the world of vegan leather!
Sustainable animal leather versus vegan leather?
Going back to the beginning, leather has been around for as long as people have started protecting themselves from the elements. So one of the huge advantages of leather is that leather products tend to last a long time. Leather is flexible and strong. In that respect, these products are durable. But there is also a lot of unsustainable to leather. Leather is made from animal hides, mainly cattle hides. Cattle have a big climate impact due to the huge amount of feed and water they consume and the manure and farts they produce. As a co-product of the meat industry, leather is not an animal-friendly product. And then there is the process of leather tanning, which is necessary to make hides soft and supple.
In most cases, leather tanning is a chemical process that requires huge amounts of water. This chemical process often involves the use of polluting chemicals, such as chromium. Also, tanners often work under harsh conditions and are unprotected from contact with the dangerous chemicals. It is often claimed and thought that leather is biodegradable, but unfortunately this is not the case. This is due to the chemical process of leather tanning and subsequent dyeing of leather. Indeed; discarding leather products causes a lot of environmental pollution. All in all, there are many drawbacks to using leather in clothes, shoes and accessories. But is vegan leather, for example, an alternative?
Leather industry in Morocco.
How do you choose sustainable animal leather?
Fortunately, there are also exceptions to these unsustainable practices. There are also leather producers, manufacturers and fashion brands that operate transparently and honestly and are more sustainable with their raw materials, production and workers. These manufacturers and brands choose leather tanning with vegetable tannins, animal-friendly conditions, fair wages and better working conditions. Leather tanning with vegetable tannins is less polluting than chrome tanning. It also makes the leather more biodegradable after use. As a consumer, if you want to check the sustainability of your leather product, you can look out for labels such as Blauer Engel, EU Ecolabel, the Leather Standard of Oekotex and IVN Naturleder. You can also choose to buy leather products second-hand via Vinted, Marktplaats or the thrift store, or swap through a clothing swap or swap-party. Second-hand is always a sustainable alternative to new.
What alternatives to animal leather are there?
Besides animal leather, there is a world to choose from as an alternative these days. Alternative leather is made from vegetable or synthetic raw materials. Today, there is even ‘leather’ made from apples and pineapples. That's good news for animals, but is it always sustainable? I looked into it!
Faux leather: vegan leather made from plastic
The most common alternative to animal leather is artificial leather. Faux or imitation leather is mainly made of polymers such as polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). These plastics are created by a chemical process from petroleum. Petroleum production is responsible for many greenhouse gases and environmental pollution. In addition, PU and PVC are poorly recyclable and do not decompose in nature. Discarded plastic products continue to exist for centuries and disintegrate into microplastics, resulting in all the negative effects on the environment and animals. The most sustainable choice in the case of plastic leather is to opt for 100% recycled plastic, as no new raw materials have been used in it.
Vegan leather made from fruit, corn, coffee and cactus
For artificial leather, leather is increasingly being made from plant-based raw materials. From apple peels, waste streams from pineapple and mango production, coffee grounds and cactus, vegan leather is made. For example, Dutch designer Joline Jolink launched trainers made of apple leather and A Perfect Jane (also a Dutch entrepreneur) makes trendy booties from appelleer! Many times, waste streams from the food industry are used to avoid waste. This is good news! It also makes the fashion industry less dependent on fossil fuels. That makes these plant-based leathers a better alternative than entirely plastic products. Yet in almost all cases, these leathers made from apple, pineapple, coffee or cactus are not free of plastics. It does not (yet) appear possible to make these vegetable leathers sturdy enough for shoes, bags or belts without the addition of polymers. Consequently, these vegetable leather products are unfortunately neither recyclable nor biodegradable. Also, these leathers do not seem to match the lifespan of animal leather. Not yet a 100% sustainable alternative, but a fine development.
Kurkleer
Another plant-based alternative to leather is cork leather. Cork leather is a natural product derived from the bark of the cork oak tree. It can be harvested without cutting down the cork oak: the bark can be removed and grows back by itself. However, this regrowth can take up to 10 years, so it is not an infinite resource. Cork leather is flexible, water- and dirt-repellent and will last for years if properly maintained. Cork clay can be reused and is fully degradable. These advantages make it a more sustainable alternative to animal leather.
Learn from mushrooms
Leather is also made from mushrooms. Or rather from mycelium, the thread-like fibres of mushrooms. Mycelium has a very strong texture and you can make sturdy and soft leather from it. No chemicals are needed to make mushroom leather. Moreover, it is completely biodegradable after use. Unfortunately, the use of mushroom leather is still in its infancy (hihi!), but it might be the sustainable alternative for the future. Fashion designer Stella McCartney has been working with vegan leather for years and recently produced her fungus bags, fashion house Hèrmes presented its first bag made of mycelium leather.
Coco leather
There is also vegan leather made from coconut, or rather coconut water. Say what! It seems improbable, but a Slovakian designer has succeeded in using the cellulose from coconut water and banana fibres to make a complete vegetable leather. No chemicals and plastics are needed to make coconut leather, and it is biodegradable after use. Coco leather is an emerging material, and who knows, in a few years we might be buying shoes made of this new sustainable material everywhere.
Composite vegetable/vegan leather
As plant-based leather alternatives are an emerging market, innovation is everywhere. Some brands are more successful than others, but some initiatives are promising. For instance, Zoa™ leather is made in a laboratory from plant and natural proteins and collagens. Depending on the desired properties of the leather-type, producer Modern Meadow develops its leathers without animal products or plastics using different raw materials. MIRUM® is also an artificial leather, manufactured in the laboratory from vegetable materials. It is biodegradable and recyclable, says manufacturer Natural Fibre Welding.
Left: appelleer booties from A Perfect Jane. Right: trainers made of European, certified (genuine) leather from sustainable fashion brand Kunoka. Both a more sustainable shoe choice.
What is your shoe made of?
So it appears difficult to say whether a product made of vegan leather is sustainable. What is more difficult is that, as a consumer, you cannot tell what a product is made of. Producers are not obliged to state the composition of shoes, clothes or accessories. This makes it virtually impossible for consumers to know what they are buying. Fortunately, European rules are in the pipeline for a Digital Product Passport, so in the future you as a consumer will hopefully be able to see much easier what a product is made of and whether it is recyclable.
Vegan leather a sustainable alternative?
So there are many different types of vegan leather that can serve as alternatives to animal skin leather. Unfortunately, the vast majority of vegan leather products still appear to consist largely of plastics, plastic in other words. So whether vegan leather is sustainable turns out not to be such a simple story. The production of plastic leather is better in terms of environmental impact than animal leather (which involves a lot of chemicals and pollution), but it is not biodegradable and is a major contributor to the plastic soup. Truly sustainable alternatives made of entirely plant-based materials are not yet readily available on the high street. But the future is promising, and I am convinced that within a few years we will have more choice of sustainable plant-based alternatives to animal leather in your shoe and clothing shop too. Until then, it is important to choose products that last and take good care of the (vegan) leather shoes, clothes and accessories you buy. By doing so, you will be doing the environment and your wallet a good service.
More sustainable fashion tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Wondering which materials are fine and durable? Read all about sustainable clothing materials in this article.
- You can also buy a leather handbag or shoes second-hand. In this article, you will find the best online shops for second-hand designer stuff.
- Many garments contain elastane. Is that even sustainable?
Photo credits: Elize Been & Geert Gordijn (main image), other Vince Gx & KA T (Unsplash) & thegreenlist.nl (shoes).
