Treekind(R), a unique PU-free leather alternative: Material analysis to produce consistent flex performance for the footwear industry

Biophilica has developed Treekind(R), a patent-pending leather alternative made with green waste. While Treekind(R) has excellent performance across the board for leather goods applications, the flex performance could be improved for footwear applications.

The vegan footwear industry was worth £18.1 billion in 2019 and expected to expand at a 7.2% CAGR between 2020 and 2030 (Future Market Insight 2019). Footwear, the largest segment, accounted for 30% of the entire vegan leather market in 2019 (Grand View Research 2019).

Sustainability is key, with global brands like Adidas recreating classics with eco-friendly materials. Customers are searching for petrochemical-free and cruelty-free materials -- however these are rare (Vegconomist). Only one other leather alternative is free of petrochemicals -- Mirum(R) by NFW in the US.

Treekind(R) is

* completely free of petrochemicals and toxins
* estimated carbon neutral
* compostable and recyclable
* made from the abundant green waste feedstock (6 million tonnes in the UK, 880 million tonnes in the world, annually)

Treekind(R) has, because of these environmental benefits, been recognised by: The Mayor's Entrepreneur, Manufacturing Futures, Drapers, Global Good, BusinessGreen Leaders, Vogue Yoox, and The Microfiber Innovation Challenge.

These benefits also make Treekind(R) attractive to leading UK and international shoe brands looking for alternatives to conventional leather and new materials that avoid the use of petrochemical, non-biodegradable PU or PVC.

We have relationships with several leading shoe brands, spanning luxury, classic, and casual, that want to use our material for capsule collections and in factories with real-life equipment and techniques.

Biophilica is part of accelerators Sustainable Ventures, Fashion for Good, and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership.

Improving the flex performance of Treekind(R) is important because

* It means that we can enter the lucrative, expanding footwear market.
* Resource and cost efficiency with less waste in manufacturing.
* Demonstrate that sustainable/PU-free materials can have high performance.
* By entering this market, our material replaces leather and petrochemical materials that are not recycled and add to the UK's and world's waste problem. Over 300 million pairs of shoes are discarded in the UK annually -- the majority going to landfill (Dover District Council).

In this project, NPL and Biophilica will collaborate on analysing samples to better understand what drives failure and success and ideate new solutions with the goal of achieving consistent and high performance (over 100k flexes).