Recycled leather material finds home at Hyundai
South Korean company ATKO Planning has begun to secure deals with brands for its leather waste material.
Scraps of leather are collected from Leather Working Group (LWG) silver and gold rated tanneries, which AKTO said results in higher-quality leather fibres than some regenerated leather that recycles shaving scraps, and then processed using what it calls an “eco-friendly, dry technology”.
These fibres are mixed with recycled PET fibres to produce spun yarn. ATKO has developed a process to recycle these yarns.
One use for the material is in car seats. ATKO supplied recycled leather spun yarn to Hyundai Transys’ future mobility seat concept, which was unveiled at the Lineapelle International Leather Fair in Milan in February (pictured).
The leather textile won the grand prize at Premiere Vision Paris 2019 when it was praised as “the most exceptional, symbolic, and pertinent leather of the season”.
