Converting Agricultural Waste into Biobased, Nontoxic, and Biodegradable Alternatives to Animal and Synthetic Leathers

Animal and faux/vegan/synthetic leathers negatively impact the environment and human health since their production requires toxic chemicals uses a significant amount of water and releases toxins in wastewater that contaminate our water systems. Most leather alternatives and synthetic finishes are made from petroleum-based plastics which are not biodegradable produce enormous amounts of waste release microplastics and toxic fumes into the environment and remain on our planet for ages. Unlike animal and synthetic leather production our patent-pending technology uses lignocellulosic raw material from nutshells/hulls eliminating toxic chemicals and significantly reducing water consumption/wastewater production. Our project goal is to develop a biodegradable alternative to animal/synthetic leathers by using pecan and peanut non-food biobased waste. It offers farmers additional usage for their waste products and creates materials that are designed with circularity and a renewable life cycle from the start. The USA is a top producer in global peanut and pecan production; Georgia is the country's largest producer of peanuts and a top producer of pecans. Our technology can support farmers by optimizing the output of their yield. Our biobased product gives added value to the actual material and farming industries alike making it an ideal candidate to meet the objectives of the Biofuels and Biobased Products category. Funding will help us develop and validate the platform capabilities of our biobased leather alternative technology and expand our research by conducting experiments and testing the performance of strength thickness texture color and durability with added functional properties to establish standards and develop prototypes.