The German Institutes of Textile and Fibre Research Denkendorf (DITF) and the Freiberg Institute (FILK) have worked together to produce a new type of synthetic leather that satisfies the stringent standards of the European Ecodesign Regulation. This synthetic leather is composed of a biodegradable plastic that comes from a closed recycling system.
The EU launched the Sustainable Products Initiative in 2022, which includes an eco-design standard that takes into account a product’s whole life cycle to promote resource conservation, making the search for alternative materials imperative. This entails using sustainable end-of-life solutions or closed-loop recycling for textiles.
The initiative decided to use aliphatic polyester polybutylene succinate (PBS), which comes in a variety of forms and can be produced using renewable resources, for this new synthetic leather. PBS is a thermoplastic polymer that may be produced into a fiber and a coating and is biodegradable.
PBS was utilized as both the thermoplastic coating material and the textile basis for the coating process by FILK. PBS composite materials with a synthetic leather-like structure were produced through optimized production methods, attaining the necessary purity and biodegradability for closed-loop recycling.
