Is Vegan Leather A Sustainable Alternative To Animal Leather?

"'Sustainable' fashion refers to garments that have been made in a way that is mindful of the many environmental issues the fashion industry touches upon." - Study 34

To put the fashion waste into a global perspective, with the current percentages of fashion waste, over 150 million tonnes of clothing waste will clog landfills by 2050. What that means is that somewhere right now, every second, a dump truck's worth of fashion waste is being added to a landfill.

Fashion consumption is at an all-time high, which means that this number will only increase with time. Furthermore, with the rise of fast fashion, the average garment is not meant to be durable. The aim of the game is to try more and to buy more. But this leads to landfills piling up and this is just a critical look at the end of a garment’s cycle. What about the impact of the manufacturing process?

With a global shift towards conscious consumption, a critical look at the leather industry is required too. Vegan leather has turned the tide of leather production and the vegan leather market is predicted to grow by 49% from 2019 to 2025.

So, what is vegan leather?

It’s exactly what it claims to be; a leather alternative that is not manufactured from animal products. It comes in various forms, synthetic and natural, and it is often associated with the term ‘eco-friendly’ because of its non-vegan counterpart being a major source of pollution. The leather industry has been recognised by the Environmental Protection Agency to be one of the top polluting industries in existence. The tanning process, which makes the raw animal hide shapeable for product creation, utilizes a variety of toxic chemicals that find their way into the surrounding water bodies. These chemicals also turn leather into a material that is not biodegradable, thus the disposal of leather goods is as problematic as its process. Given that India is one of the biggest leather producers in the world, the problem is quite close to home too.

Vegan leather does not require the tanning process nor does it utilize animal products. While it undoubtedly has cut out animals from its production process, does animal-free necessarily mean sustainable?

In this article and in Beej’s handbook, we use vegan leather to refer to leather made from plant-based materials, not plastics. The synthetic leather industry is booming but it in no way matches the word sustainable. Scores of research have been done on the harmful effects of microplastics both on us and on the environment. Synthetic leather simply isn’t the way to go. So what kind of vegan leather is?

Caption: A Beej bag made of Pinãtex, a vegan leather made from pineapple leaf fibre

Let’s define sustainability

"Sustainable fashion is an all-inclusive term describing products, processes, activities, and actors (policymakers, brands, consumers) aiming to achieve a carbon-neutral fashion industry, built on equality, social justice, animal welfare, and ecological integrity." - Ana Alves in the VOU magazine

What this means to us is that sustainability is a process that looks at the entire life cycle of a product - from what goes behind creating it to how the consumer uses it. Sustainability really is a journey that everyone has to take part in! Imagine that a product has been made eco-consciously but the consumer wears it just once before discarding it? Or the other way around - a consumer wears a fashion product multiple times but it leaks microplastics every time it’s sent for a wash.

Vegan leather follows the same rules too so let’s break it down:

LEATHER

VEGAN LEATHER

Source

Skin of an animal which has been killed for either meat or leather

Plant based - there is a range of options available including cactus and pineapple leaf fibre

Waste during production

Raw hides, wastewater and air pollution

Often consciously made to ensure that there is no waste in harvesting, processing or production.

Processing

Tanning utilises the toxic heavy metal chromium

No tanning required to process plant based materials.

Impact on the air

Finishing of the raw hide releases Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which are released into the air

No harmful chemicals leached into the air

Impact on the surrounding water bodies

The tanning process poisons surrounding waterways, making them unusable and negatively affecting aquatic life

No harmful chemicals leached into the water

Vegan

Not vegan

Vegan and plant-based

Biodegradable

The tanning process makes the raw hide non-biodegradable

Partially degradable or completely degradable options available

Workers’ wellbeing

The chemicals that workers are exposed to in the factories are detrimental to their health

Vegan leather material producers consciously follow sustainable development goals (SDGs) and this includes workers’ wellbeing

Caption: A Beej wallet made from cork sourced from Portugal

Where do we go from here?

The term vegan has become synonymous with all the tags conscious consumers look for but conscious choices require an understanding deeper than packaging labels. If two years of being private label handbags manufacturers has taught us anything it is this; while a perfect alternative does not exist, analysing the ones we have allows us to keep bettering our choices!

It’s keeping in mind this, that sustainability is a conscious decision to be conscious every step of the way, that Beej uses plant-based vegan leathers that are truly sustainable alternatives to animal leather.

Caption: A limited-edition Baguette in monochrome

Some of our favourite vegan leather alternatives:

Pinãtex

Pinãtex is a material made from pineapple leaves! The Philippines is known for its pineapple harvests. Once the fruit is harvested, the leaves are collected to make Pinãtex, instead of being discarded. Pineapple leaves are rich in cellulose fibres. These fibres are extracted, dried then mixed with polylactic acid - a binder extracted from cornstarch (also plant-based!). It’s then rolled, dyed and coated before being shipped off the various fashion manufacturers (like us) around the world.

Pinãtex isn’t the perfect vegan alternative, nor does it claim to be. During the production process, it is coated with a plastic based resin to make it water-proof and add durability. It is, therefore, not biodegradable. However, considering the impact that leather has from start to finish, Pinãtex definitely ranks higher on the sustainability scale.

Shop our Pinãtex products.

Desserto

Desserto is a vegan leather alternative made from cactus leaves. The cactus leaves are mashed and dried under the sun for three days. Then the leaves are processed using non-toxic chemicals. Desserto has many feathers in its cap - it’s vegan, water conscious, grown organically (herbicide and fungicide free) and doesn’t affect the natural environment because it belongs to it!

Shop our Desserto showstoppers.

MIRUM®

MIRUM® is a new cutting edge material that is the first 100% biobased material made from rubber, coconut husk or cork. We will be releasing a limited edition design made from this spectacular material soon!

Divya is a highly proficient content writer with 6+ years of experience writing engaging articles about sustainability and earth-friendly genre topics. Divya holds a Master's degree in journalism from Mumbai University.