Piñatex®
Piñatex® leather is derived from pineapple leaf fiber. After pineapple harvest in the Philippines, the pineapple leaves that are left behind are collected in bundles, cleaned and dried for several days. The dried leaves then undergo a purification process and are later further processed to become Piñafelt, a non-woven base material. Rolls of Piñafelt are then shipped to Spain or Italy for the final coloring and coating finishes that result in different colors and textures.
Piñatex® are made from the existing waste leaves left behind after each pineapple harvest, and therefore does not need additional resources to be extracted from the environment to produce this material. The use of the pineapple leaves also helps to reduce air pollution associated with the burning of the leave waste after harvest.
Source: https://www.ananas-anam.com
Desserto®
Desserto leather is made of Nopal cactus, also known as the prickly pear cactus that is native in the Mexico region. Mature cactus leaves are harvested from the cactus farms in Mexico and go through a drying process. The dried cactus leaves then go through a mechanical process to be made into leather for the fashion and home industries.
Cactus farming is perennial, meaning that it the crops are harvested once every eight years, compared to other crops such as corn that needs to cultivated and harvested annually, thereby making it less damaging on the soil. In addition, cactus farming does not require irrigation process that consumes large amounts of water. Last but no least, Desserto utilises organic farming for these cactus and hence no herbicides or pesticides are used and this helps to reduce environmental pollution caused by the use of chemicals.
Source: https://desserto.com.mx/
PU Leather
PU leather, also known as polyurethane leather, is an artificial leather made of thermoplastic polymer. 100% PU leather is completely synthetic and is considered vegan as it does not utilize any animals in the material making process. An additional advantage of PU leather is that it can produce a variety of colors and textures for unique shoe designs.
Some disadvantages of PU leather is that it may break down over time and does not last as long as leather. Due to its synthetic composition, PU is also considered not as environmentally friendly as it does not break down naturally over time. In sourcing for PU leather, our brand is committed in sourcing for cleaner alternative vegan leather, such as water-based PU leather composed of water-based polyurethane resin which replaces organic solvents with water. This production process is pollution-free, non-toxic, and does not contain harmful chemicals such as DMF (Dimethylformamide), has zero VOC (Volatile organic compounds), and is therefore considered environmentally friendly.
Sources:
https://www.watsonwolfe.com/2018/09/22/what-is-vegan-leather/