By Charles Carter, 10/10/22
Mexican startup Desserto has created a sustainable vegan leather made from cactus proteins and fibres.
As well being a no-slaughter leather, the company claims the nopal cactus needs no irrigation water, is a very efficient natural carbon sink and doesn’t pollute waterways like the conventional leather industry.
How does it work?
The mature nopal cactus leaves are manually harvested every 6-8 months. The cactus is unharmed in the process and the same plant can keep producing for 8 years.
The leaves are then cleaned and ground into a pulp which is dried under the sun for 3 days.
Through an industrial process proteins and fibres are extracted from the pulp and transformed into a bio-resin, which is used to make the synthetic leather biomaterial.
The material has been made into a variety of products including handbags, footwear and car interiors through collaborations with companies such as H&M, Adidas and Mercedes Benz.
What are the potential benefits?
The process of treating animal skins to produce leather involves many toxic chemicals some of which are released into local waterways, polluting the local environment. Chemicals used include arsenic, formaldehyde and chromium.
This compares with Desserto’s process which uses no toxic chemicals and 90 percent plant-based materials.
Animal leather is a by-product of meat-production, but with eating less meat a major strategy to combat climate change, the demand for sustainable leather could also rise to fill the gap.
Questions for you. Comment below
- First thought that comes into your head?
- Pros and cons according to you?
- Other applications of this approach?
- What could this be combined with?
Great idea. I wonder how it compares to Pinatex, which is made from pineapple, and doing very well.