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It is visually the same as animal leather. To the touch, it is also similar in every aspect. However, in reality, the vegetable leather presented by Tintex is made from waste from other industries. Wood sawdust and coffee grounds are some products already tested.
Developed within the scope of Texboost, the largest Portuguese textile innovation consortium that integrates 28 companies and 15 research centres, this vegetable leather in Jersey “incorporates a coating made from wood sawdust, reusing waste from other industries”, explains Ricardo Silva, CEO and operations manager at Tintex. Besides wood sawdust, the company is also developing fake leather made from coffee grounds, and testing the incorporation of other residue, such as almond or nut shells.
“We have already incorporated this vegetable leather in a sofa that was presented at the Open Day of Tintex and that, in the meantime, has travelled around the world with CITEVE”. Maria José Carvalho, head of CITEVE’s Sustainability and Circular Economy agenda, says that “everyone was surprised when told this was vegetable leather because, in fact, it resembles the animal leather in every way”.
This vegetable leather “can be used in sofas and armchairs, as well as accessories, clothing or shoes”, says Maria José Carvalho. “The auto industry is also one of our goals, on the long term though, since we would still have to optimize the product and the productive processes for that end”, concludes Ricardo Silva.