Synthetic leather made from recyclable and biobased PBS
June 07, 2024 – Much artificial leather consists of a textile substrate with a polymer layer, often made of different materials such as PVC and polyurethane. Such materials do not meet current sustainability standards, are difficult to recycle and are not biodegradable. For this reason, sustainable alternatives are being diligently sought.
The German DITF (Deutsche Institut für Textil und Faserforschung) and the Freiberg Institute gGmbH (FILK) have now developed an easily recyclable synthetic leather that meets the set environmental standards. Polybutylene succinate (PBS) was chosen as the basis for the new leather because of its biodegradability and thermoplastic properties. PBS is biodegradable and can be made from biological sources and is available in large quantities. Process adjustments allowed PBS filaments with good textile properties to be spun and processed into pure PBS material. Together with an extruded coating of PBS, this resulted in a composite material with the typical structure of artificial leather.
