Genuine leather has lost its nobility.
The genuine leather industry is in decline, and for good reason! Animal husbandry, which supplies raw hides for tanneries, is the source of around 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is a higher percentage than the gases produced by the transportation industry1.
Several investigations have revealed the cruelty to which animals such as cows and sheep are subjected in the leather trade2, not to mention that cattle ranching is responsible for around 80% of the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and 14% of global deforestation each year3.
Additionally, many chemicals, such as chromium and formaldehyde, are used in the tanning process, which poses a danger to both the environment and humans. The NGO Blacksmith Institute estimates that, in 2012, leather tanneries were among the ten most toxic industries in the world!
Kover Factory© A resolutely environmental offer
Several manufacturers have innovated in recent years by producing plant-based vegan leathers. Being biodegradable, these products represent an important step forward for the footwear, furniture, fashion, and other industries looking for sustainable solutions to reduce our carbon footprint.
Vegan leather is synthetic leather whose particularity is that it comes from materials other than animals. This is an imitation of real leather. The goal is to reproduce the appearance and main benefits of leather, without using animal materials.
There are different categories of vegan leather: vegan leather made with a resin extracted from a vegetable base or a polyurethane (PU) base or even with a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) base.
Kover Factory© only offers vegan leathers from manufacturers who use bio-resin extracted from plants or polyurethane (PU).
Our mission is to offer high-performance, ecological textiles without risks to human health, without compromising appearance, texture and variety.
Sources
1 Institute for Climate Economics
2 https://www.petafrance.com/actualites/enquete-choc-des-animaux-maltraites-et-expedies-dans-le-monde-entier-pour-le-cuir
3 Greenpeace