Indestructible, breathable and noble: After cotton, leather is arguably the most popular natural raw material in the fashion industry. But for the production of bags, pants, jackets and shoes, animals often have to give their lives under agonizing conditions. Environmentalists also complain that hazardous chemicals such as chromium are used in tanning.
Two Mexicans now want to have developed a purely herbal alternative: a bioleather of cactus. It is breathable and resistant like real leather and can be made into purses, belts and clothes. However, the shelf life of the vegan alternative is limited to only about ten years.
Otherwise used imitations made of plastic also have their disadvantages, because in the production carrier materials are used with plastic. When artificial leather textiles have become obsolete, harmful substances can be released into the environment.
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According to the start-up from Guadalajara, the new cactus product is not only environmentally friendly, because it does not need any plastics, but also very sustainable. Because the nopal cactus, from which the material is made, requires very little water to grow and can be planted in many places in Mexico.
The crop, whose name comes from the Aztec language, has had many uses for centuries. Prickly pears and the young plant shoots are popular ingredients for salads or other dishes in Mexican cuisine. In addition, the crop is cultivated as feed in agriculture. Every year, thousands of tons of nopal are harvested in Mexico alone.
DESSERTO
Imitation leather made of nopal cactus
However, it is also possible to produce tissue from the fibers. Three years ago, a Mexican team from the Universidad Aeronáutica in Querétaro developed a fibrous material from the bark of the plant that, in combination with the slimy plant cellulose of the cacti and epoxy resin, formed a solid composite material. The manufacturing process is similar to carbon fibers.
For the leather from the cactus, the two developers Adrián López and Marte Cázarez work with a carrier material made of cotton, on which the nopal fibers are applied. The two fiddled until they had developed a material that resembled leather. "In the beginning, many people thought we were crazy, even our engineers," they said, according to a report in the Mexican newspaper El Heraldo de México.
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Similar developments using leather-like fabrics made of apple remnants or pineapple fibers have inspired López and Cázarez. The German fashion company Hugo Boss has been offering vegan sneakers made from pineapple fibers for some time now.
A cactus bag should not be cheap. Per meter, the cactus leather is about $ 25 cost. Faux leather is much cheaper, the meter is already under one euro to have. In addition, the fashion world still has to wait for the first cactus leather products. After all, López and Cázarez do not want to go into production with their company, but only supply the material.
