V2-Sparkle Environmental Theme. Vegan Leather Made From Coffee

author: SPARKLE--HARRIS

2023-06-23

Coffee Grounds Fiber

Coffee is one of the world's most popular drinks, as a result of this most of coffee ground is discarded into the environment as waste but Singtex is now collecting the waste grounds from the drinks giant turns into sportswear.

The manufacturing process of coffee fibre involves the use of chemicals which are non-toxic in nature, hence they do not create harm to the environment.

The manufacturing of a new product does not require high temperature for carbonization, so its manufacturing process is more efficient. More important point is that the process does not use hazardous chemical as well.

Fabrics made from coffee ground fibre, seaweed, pineapple leaves or recycled plastic bottles are so important as they are the foundation of the fashion industry's greener future.

The textile industry is directly linked with the next step to ensure the entire industry becomes more sustainable. Majority of the resources used textile industry as a raw material has mainly obtained from natural sources like cotton, jute, linen, etc.

The resulting coffee yarn is multi-functional and can be used in a variety of products, from outdoor and sports performance wear to household items used every day.

The manufacturing process of coffee ground fibre involves the following steps:

1. Preparation material with coffee residue Material with coffee residue' includes microencapsulated backed coffee residue, microencapsulated coffee essential oil, microencapsulated fragrance organic compound which is extracted from coffee residue. Coffee essential oil could be extracted from the coffee bean. Then backed coffee residue or coffee essential oil was microencapsulated.

2. Cleaning or sieving of coffee residue or raw material The coffee bean waste is rinsed in clean water and then dried, in that case, a ground particle having a size of 20 to 100 micron. Then the ground mixture is sieved. The resultant composition can be sieved into different fine particle sizes between 80 - 100 um.

3. Removal of organic contents from material with coffee residue The sieved mixture treated with some solvents to remove the organic contents from the mixture. The extraction of fat is carried out in soxhlet type extractor with ethyl ether. After the fatty acid has been removed, the aqueous solution containing water-soluble constituents is evaporated to reduce the pressure and extracted with absolute alcohol for removal of glycerol.

4. Preparation of carbonised particles The mixture from the above 3 steps is collected and carbonised using carbonisation. For example, pyrolysis is the process in which coffee mixture is heated, decomposed and eventually converted into the desired product in the presence of air. Pyrolysis includes carbonisation, charcoal processing, gasification, activated carbon processing. The carbonisation of coffee raw material is done in the presence of chemicals such as zinc chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride or phosphoric acid.

5. Mixing of material with carbonised material to form a mixture.

6. Blending the mixture with the polyester chip in a weight ratio of 1:9 to produce a masterbatch. In this process ground particle and polymer chip (such as PP, Nylon or PET) in the weight ratio of 1:9 are blended to prepare masterbatch. Alternatively, 75 per cent of carbonised particles and 25 per cent the material with coffee fragrance are blended into polymer chip (such as PP, Nylon or PET) to make masterbatch.

7. Drawing of Yarn from masterbatch.

Is plastic in vegan leathers bad?

As it currently stands, the addition of a plastic plays a pivotal role in the durability of bio-based leathers. Without it, the materials wouldn’t endure the general wear of every day life, and extending the life cycle of a product is an incredibly important aspect of sustainability.

Whether it's grape leather, corn leather, pineapple leather or even mushroom leather, a small amount of plastic is required. Plant-based polyurethanes are progressing however these still contain 30% petroleum-based PU in order to ensure longevity and stability.

As technology progresses, the reliability on plastics will reduce significantly. For now though, it is a key ingredient and will ensure your Oliver Co. products last.