E-Leather
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| File:E-Leather Ltd logo.jpg | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Headquarters | Peterborough, U.K. |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people |
Chris McBean (CEO) |
| Website | EleatherGroup.com |
E-Leather is a UK-based manufacturer and supplier of composition leather also called E-Leather. The material is made from recycled leather offcuts, which tanneries would otherwise send as waste to landfill. Operating from its base in Peterborough, England, the company exports to clients across Europe, United States, China, Taiwan, India and worldwide.
Contents
Product
E-Leather’s composition leather product is made up of specified core materials, which are combined with recovered natural leather fibres. The product is finished to add colour, grain and texture and other specific performance requirements such as scuff protection or fire resistance[1] Unlike leather hides E-leather is man-made and available to cut from a roll thereby significantly saving on wastage.[2]
Applications & uses
E-Leather composition leather is used in the transportation, footwear, leather goods, domestic upholstery and commercial upholstery industries.
Transportation
Bus and coach
The E-Leather material can be up to 50 per cent lighter than traditional leather and up to 30 per cent lighter than moquette, which in the bus and coach sector means fuel savings and potentially a higher payload[3].
Other transportation applications where E-Leather composition leather is used include the interior furnishing of airplanes, trains, yachts and taxis.
Airline
Airline company, Southwest Airlines (based in the US) tested E-Leather to cover half of the seats on its new Boeing plane. The material’s lower weight means lower fuel consumption in airline travel. Being highly durable, its long lasting quality ambiance and wipe clean ease of maintenance will save further costs and cleaning chemicals[4]
Footwear
Retail brands are turning to E-Leather, including Marks & Spencer (M&S), which in 2009 introduced a schoolwear range [5]
Production methods
E-Leather’s manufacturing procedures are focussed on preserving the environment. In its production, E-Leather uses high-pressure water jets to feed the leather fibres through a textile core. The process is called 'hydro-entanglement' and has been developed and patented by the company.[6] Unlike conventional bonded leather, the process uses no chemicals. E-Leather produces no harmful waste-waters in the manufacture of its composition leather. Its process is a continuous [closed-looped] system with 95% of water recycled, while a thermal oxidiser has cut natural gas use by between 50-70%.[7]
References
- ↑ http://www.eleathergroup.com/index.php?mod=how_it_is_made
- ↑ http://www.eleathergroup.com/index.php?mod=footwear
- ↑ http://www.busandcoach.com/featurepage.aspx?id=3413&categoryid=3
- ↑ http://www.eleathergroup.com/modules/news/index.php?mod=show_news&id_nws=13&keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=550&width=780
- ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1190981/The-plastic-schoolwear-M-amp-S-introduces-uniform-bottles.html
- ↑ http://www.eleathergroup.com/index.php?mod=how_it_is_made
- ↑ http://www.eleathergroup.com/resources/uploads/files/ELecocardCP0110rev2sml.pdf
