Piñatex: Vegan and Sustainable Alternative to Animal Leather

Image Credit: Piñatex [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Did you know that the leather industry is one of the primary contributors to our ever growing pollution problem? Leather tanning – which is the process of converting animal skin into leather – involves the use of harmful chemical agents. The most commonly used leather tanning agent is chromium which can be toxic to human at high exposure over a long period of time. Environmental issues also arise as chromium waste (which comes from leather tanning facilities) contaminates our water, thus endangering marine lives. Another cruel side of the leather industry lies in the unethical killing of animals (e.g. crocodiles, ostriches, cows, etc.) for their skin in order to meet the growing demand for leather products. This situation led to the creation of synthetic leather that is normally made from PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) – a type of plastic that does not decompose so it just ends up in the landfill.

Dr. Carmen Hijosa saw the need to create a more sustainable alternative to leather that has less impact to the environment and is cruelty-free (both to animals and workers). She had a light-bulb moment while working as a consultant in the Philippines and saw how locals use piña (pineapple leaf fibers) to create Barong Tagalog – the national dress of the Philippines. After seven years of research and development through a PhD at the Royal College of Art in London, Piñatex was born under Dr. Hijosa’s company Ananas Anam.

Piñatex is a non-woven plant-based textile that is derived from pineapple leaf fibers (sourced from the Philippines) which can be used as an alternative to leather that is made from animal skin. The raw material itself is sustainably sourced from discarded pineapple leaves which farmers normally just throw away. The fibers extracted from the pineapple leaves undergo a certain process until they become a non-woven textile with a unique leather-like appearance. The resulting textile is lightweight, breathable, flexible yet very durable, which makes it an ideal material for making shoes, bags, wallets, clothes and upholstery (e.g. sofa, car seat). Piñatex also comes in variety of colors and finishes (e.g. gold and silver metallic finishes) which give fashion designers more options when it comes to their product designs.

Piñatex is 100% vegan. In fact, Piñatex is the first fabric to become PETA-approved for being vegan and cruelty-free. In recent years, more and more fashion brands are using Piñatex to create eco-friendly and animal-friendly clothing and accessories.

Here are some of the products that are made with Piñatex.

Bourgeois Boheme: London-based vegan footwear brand using Piñatex

Maniwala: Plant-based, cruelty-free bags made from Piñatex

Altiir: Metallic biker jackets using Piñatex

At the moment, Piñatex is not yet 100% biodegradable since it’s still using petroleum-based resin for coating the textile. Don’t worry though as the company is working hard to eventually find a way to replace petroleum-based resin from Piñatex. Instead of using PVC (a petroleum-based plastic often used in synthetic leather), Piñatex uses PLA (Polylactic acid) which is a bioplastic that is derived from renewable sources (e.g. cassava). Now, you might ask, is PLA biodegradable? The answer is “it depends on the temperature of the area where it is being decomposed”. PLA degrades better at 58 degrees Celsius which means that it is more suitable to be decomposed in an industrial composting (where temperature can be controlled) than in a landfill where the ambient temperature is only around 25 Celsius.

Even though Piñatex is not completely biodegradable, I believe that the company’s goal to not use any by-product of animals is already a big step against animal-cruelty in traditional leather making. I’m looking forward that more textile manufacturers will follow the footsteps of Piñatex towards the creation of leather alternatives that are kind to our environment, to the animals and to the people who are making them J

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