This work aimed to fulfil one of the great consumer trends related to ethically and environmentally sustainable attitudes. The main concept was to develop an alternative material to natural and synthetic leather by creating new bio-coated textile structures with improved environmental credentials, and to use vegetable wastes and by-products from agroforestry industries, as well as biopolymers. Different residues, such as sawdust and pine bark were successfully incorporated in polymeric aqueous formulations and applied as textile coatings. The Life Cycle Assessment of these new textile products showed that they present a lower environmental impact in comparison to natural leather used for clothing and shoe applications. Overall, the alternative material developed here is a favourable sustainable material. The use of by-products to create bio-based materials comprises a great potential for a broad spectrum of applications in other fields in the Textile and Clothing Industry such as fashion, eco-design, sports and protection apparel, furniture decoration, home textiles, footwear, fashion accessories, in addition to others.
The development of a new generation of coated textile solutions based on the incorporation of industrial natural leather waste from automobile cutting operations, conferring new functionalities with eco-design and fashion effects was studied. This work provides new insights to major consumer trends, including ethical, environmental, and sustainable attitudes, focusing on sustainability from a circular economy and industrial symbiosis perspective. Herein, leather wastes from the automobile industry were transformed using both mechanical and chemical processes. Subsequently, the recycled residues were used to develop new coating formulations and applied as textile coatings, to obtain a new generation of more sustainable-coated textile solutions. The coated substrates were fully characterised and a series of normalized tests were conducted to determine and assess their mechanical and functional properties. The newly developed solutions met and even exceeded the performance standards and specifications of the fashion, shoes and accessories, furniture and home textile sectors. With the elaboration and application of novel coating formulations, a series of prototypes were developed with enhanced and innovative material. The Life Cycle Assessment of these new textile products demonstrated that they hold a lower environmental impact in comparison to natural leather used for clothing and shoe applications. Hence, the valorisation of hydrolysed natural leather wastes by textile coating applications was successfully achieved.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.