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EXECUTIVERedefining Waste, Re-imagining Textiles:
Transforming Gelatine to Eco-friendly Textile
One Estonian start-up is transforming gelatine produced from discarded
animal waste to create an eco-friendly textile that looks and feels just
like real leather.
The livestock industry is full of waste. For ex-
ample, did you know that only up to 60 % of an
animal is used for meat, with the rest often
being discarded? That’s up to 5 million tons of
waste every year in Europe alone. At the other
end of the equation is the leather production
market. As a result of the substantial amounts
of water and chemicals used during the tan-
ning process, and the vast amount of CO2
emitted during production, the leather industry
is one of the world’s biggest polluters.
But between the slaughterhouse and the tan-
nery there’s gelatine – a versatile natural pro-
tein derived from the abundantly available
waste produced by the livestock industry. But
where others saw a waste product, one Esto-
nian start-up saw a wasted opportunity.Eco-Friendly, Leather-like Textile: Estonia's most well-
known fully circular leather bags and accessories
“At GELATEX, we believe that with innovation,
brand Stella Soomlais partnered with Gelatex in 2016.
we can give value to this abundant, underval-
Stella Soomlais designers and crafters have tested
ued resource,” says Mari-Ann Meigo Fonseca,
the material various times on different products.
GELATEX co-founder and CEO. “For us, that
innovation is a revolutionary process for turning gelatine into gelatine-based nano-fibrous materials faster
than any other existing technology.”
Now, thanks to the support of the EU-funded GELATEX project, the company is ready to scale up its
production process and bring its eco-friendly textiles to the global market.
Like leather, but without the toxins
Although there are already plenty of alternative textiles on the market, including PVC and plant-based
products, none offers the composition or properties of real leather. GELATEX’s eco-friendly, non-toxic
textile, on the other hand, not only looks and feels like real leather, it’s the only leather-like material that
is easily scalable, 100 % non-toxic, comes in rolls, and is made from waste.
“We developed a cutting-edge method for synthesising gelatine, creating a fabric of unprecedented qual-
ity and chemically equivalent to leather,” explains Fonseca. “GELATEX is the first company to deliver this
new animal-like leather without the need for toxic tanning.”
The GELATEX platform upcycles gelatine from discarded animal waste and mixes it into a solution. Next,
using a proprietary method, the solution is spun into an insoluble nano-fibrous mesh. This mesh is then
combined with other materials, creating textiles for a range of applications and industries.
“The final product is designed and configured according to industry requirements on tensile strength,
resistance, insulation, permeability and comfort,” adds Fonseca.
Ready for market
With interest in sustainable textiles growing, GELATEX needed to evaluate the opportunity for a small
start-up to scale fast while also strategically planning for the future. “With the EU funding, we were able to
assess options for tensile and tear strength optimisation and specifications of production machinery
components,” explains Fonseca. "We also conducted an in-depth cost analysis and identified global
commercial strategies, sales channels and future funding needs,” Fonseca added.
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