Partners join forces to make circular material from leather waste
Wet blue, crust and split supplier KT Trading has joined forces with Finnish bio-materials manufacturer Spinnova to produce what the two companies are calling “a new category of sustainable and circular textiles”.
They intend to begin pilot-scale production of the new material, which they have called Respin, before the end of 2021.
Spinnova launched in 2014 as a spin-off from the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and has worked since then to produce versatile, recyclable yarns from paper-grade wood pulp. Its technique is based on fibre-suspension flows, mechanically pulping the fibres and controlling the flow in such a way as to form a yarn. After going through a drying process, the yarn is ready for spinning.
Early adopters of the materials textile producers are able to make from Spinnova fibres include H&M and Bestseller.
Processing leather waste will require no further technology development from Spinnova. It has confirmed that it will use fibre from the leather waste to spin yarn that can then be woven or knitted.
The chief executive of KT Trading, Kristian Geert Jensen, has said he views setting up Respin as a joint venture with Spinnova is a step forward in making the leather industry circular.
Please see our separate story on this development, with extra detail about the leather-specific aspects.
