Vegan leather, often marketed as an eco-friendly alternative to animal leather, is primarily made from plastics and may not be as sustainable as you think.
Allyson Chiu reports for The Washington Post.
In short:
- Vegan leather, often made from polyurethane or PVC, is a plastic-based material with significant environmental impacts.
- Traditional leather, a byproduct of the meat industry, poses its own sustainability issues, including waste management and the use of toxic chemicals in tanning.
- Emerging plant-based alternatives to both vegan and animal leather are still in early stages and not widely available.
Key quote:
"The entire life cycle of this material has a very bad environmental impact."
— Huantian Cao, professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware
Why this matters:
Choosing between vegan and animal leather is complex, as both have significant environmental drawbacks. The manufacturing process for vegan leather often involves toxic chemicals that can harm both workers and the environment. For instance, the production of PVC releases dioxins, a group of highly toxic compounds linked to serious health issues, including cancer and reproductive harm. Unlike natural leather, which can biodegrade under certain conditions, synthetic alternatives linger in landfills for centuries, breaking down into microplastics that can infiltrate ecosystems and food chains.
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