The Search For Sustainable & Vegan Leather Alternatives: Olive Leather

The Carbon Closet welcomes you back to our weekly vegan-leather report, where we explore some of the best and most sustainable alternatives to animal leather. In last week’s article, we explored the properties of grape leather, and dropped a hint to this weeks source: heading over to the Mediterranean- it’s olive-Leather! Join us as we delve into the production, benefits and drawbacks to this tree-grown textile.

As with many of our previously explored vegan-leathers, waste produce is used to construct this material, in this case, olive pits and, leaves and pomace, which are ground down into a powder and bonded with a polymer blend to create a sheet of fabric. It could also be applied to a backing material to increase durability and strength. Oleatex is the leading manufacturer of olive leather and proudly constructs their material using 90% bio-content.

Given Oleatex’s reputation and success, we know that there are already countless benefits for this Mediterranean material. Here are just three of them:

Olive’s typical uses such as for eating or creating oil results in masses of wasted pits, leaves and pomace. By using these to create fabric, landfill and gases produced from burning waste are reduced, whilst edible produce remain unaffected. In fact, waste pomace contaminates water, soils and is harmful to the environment and wildlife!

Oleatex has created five different variations of olive-leather, differing in their properties. The diversity in fabric qualities allows for broader range of products to be made from this sustainable material! They also minimize usage of harmful chemicals, water footprint and carbon emissions for the optimal eco-material!

By using bio-based content, the fabric has the potential to be biodegradable. This would be beneficial for a products end-of-life or even excess material from creating products. Even if polymers are added, providing these are also derived from bio-sources, they can still be manually biodegraded in a controlled environment.

We’re sure than avid earth-lovers are aware of the drawbacks to this green fabric. You know the drill:

Standard polymer material is not biodegradable unless it is bio-derrived. This also compromises on the chemical and toxin quantities that go into the fabric... And end up either in the environment or even your skin! The same applies for any backing-base that is added for strength and support in the production of the fabric.

Given that this material is made from the waste of other olive products, one unsuccessful season for growth or farming could result in not enough produce to create fabric- especially given how small an olive is! Although resilient, these trees are not invincible, and in order to preserve the sustainability factor, minimal water waste or pesticides should be used.

As seen with the repeated use of olive oil on animal leathers, a backterial buildup is quite common which ultimately damages the material. Similarly, olive oil can leave behind a residue which hardens with oxidisation and again, results in unwanted qualities or damage to the fabric.

From branches to bags, olives have proven to be a very versatile product! The Carbon Closet is proud to host products made from Olive-leather, amongst many other vegan and ethical materials. We’d love to help you begin your journey to a more sustainable future. Visit our website or sign up to our newsletter for more information and amazing products.

As for next week’s leather:
It is a popular fruit filling for pies, crumbles, tarts or even juice!