DITF and FILK develop biodegradable synthetic leather

A new type of synthetic leather, which meets the strict requirements of the European Ecodesign Regulation, has been developed in a collaboration between the German Institutes of Textile and Fibre Research Denkendorf (DITF) and the Freiberg Institute (FILK). This synthetic leather is made from a bio-based plastic that is biodegradable and fits within a closed recycling system.

The search for alternative materials is crucial, as the EU introduced the Sustainable Products Initiative in 2022, which includes an eco-design regulation that considers a product’s entire life cycle to promote resource conservation. For textiles, this means incorporating closed-loop recycling or sustainable end-of-life options.

For this new synthetic leather, the project chose aliphatic polyester polybutylene succinate (PBS), which can be made from renewable sources and is available in various forms. PBS is biodegradable and can be processed thermoplastically as both a fiber and coating material.

FILK used the PBS fabrics as the textile base for the coating process, where PBS was also used as the thermoplastic coating material. With optimized production steps, PBS composite materials with the typical structure of synthetic leather were created, achieving the purity and biodegradability required for closed-loop recycling.