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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Is 3D Printing and Green Eco-Leather the future of the leather industry?


3D printed leather?  Well, Andras Forgacs has developed a method of 3D printing that could produce a human body part and organs and now he’s working on a technology that could produce animal products without animals, including faux leather.  This would include a biopsy process where the cells of an animal would be taken from a tissue sample, but would not harm the animal.  Leather could then be grown from the cells and grown into the shape of a wallet, handbag, etc.  This would be better for animals and better for the environment!  Learn more about 3D printing here.

Process of growing leather. Taken from Youtube.


Here’s an interesting TED talk on the subject:

Leather and Meat without killing Animals



“Green eco-leather” is one of the newest types of leather like materials.  It’s made from natural fibers such as flax or cotton and mixed with palm, corn, or other plant oils.  Green eco-leather is said to look and feel like it came from an animal.  Unlike the leather tanning process, eco-leather uses materials that are sustainable and provide a low carbon footprint.   It might be a while before you can see green eco-Leather shoes in stores, however, interest in the material is growing and companies like Nike, Puma, and Adidas have requested samples to experiment with this green product.  Here’s more about Eco-Leather


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