In the UK, 300,000 tonnes of clothing (worth £140 million) and 300 million pairs of shoes reach landfill annually. The textiles industry causes 5.4% global carbon emissions. Leather is the most environmentally damaging material (TheFashionAgenda-2020)

COVID-19 has caused global material shortages and disrupted global leather manufacturing (InternationalLabourOrganisation). There is a fundamental need to secure local supply of raw materials for all countries/continents.

We are a startup of eight people with expertise in chemistry/product design/business development, marketing/strategy/funding/project management. We have been developing Treekind(tm)? for 3 years. We are currently working on our batch-produced pilot. The next step is continuous production, which is the focus of this feasibility study.

Treekind(tm)? is a new leather alternative made from green waste (garden/park waste) that can be recycled or home composted. It uses less than 1% of the water in conventional leather processing. It is non-toxic/vegan/estimated carbon-neutral/and contains zero petrochemicals.

Our target industry is fashion leather goods.

Treekind(tm)? is:

* PU/plastic-free
* Estimated carbon-negative
* Regenerative/cumulative
* Made from plants
* Zero waste/closed-loop
* Recyclable pre-/post-consumer
* Home and industrially compostable

This project will explore the feasibility of integrating Treekind(tm)? into existing production pathways, focussing on continuous material production and product manufacturing techniques. By working with international partners, we aim to better understand the nuances and constraints of leather supply chains (in particular the existing equipment and process that we can integrate/leverage) and identify the most advantageous routes to drive the widespread availability and adoption of Treekind(tm)?.