We all know that marketing departments compete to see who has the most sustainable product. What is needed, then, to find your way around the many materials that claim to be eco/green/friendly or free, is a tool to understand their true composition. Because claiming to be bio-based is one thing, but being bio-based is quite another. Gustavo Defeo, CEO of Ars Tinctoria, is working on this tool in collaboration with CNR-INO (National Institute of Optics). The researcher presented the objectives and first results of the study at Lineapelle‘s Green Theatre.
Understanding the true composition of leather
The video contribution allows those who could not attend in person to watch the presentation. The preliminary results, meanwhile, are astounding. Ars Tinctoria and CNR-INO used radiocarbon to analyse the alternative materials to leather used in five shoe models that are being marketed as sustainable. Although they claim to be ‘bio-based’, they were found to be made from between 65% and 100% synthetic substances derived from oil. While a truly bio-based material is, guess what, leather. But it’s worth listening to the results of the study from Defeo’s own voice. Enjoy.
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