My guest this week is Tina Funder, co-founder of ALT.Leather. True to the name, ALT.Leather is creating Australia’s first 100% plant-based leather alternative, by using agricultural waste.
We discuss the enormous environmental costs of leather and textile production,
the hidden pitfalls of existing leather alternatives, redesigning traditional manufacturing operations, the efficiency benefits of doing so, the huge range of possible applications for this material, and the importance of being principles-led.
Along with co-founders Dr. Antonin Demazy and Peter Taitoko, Tina and ALT.Leather have just commenced the latest cohort of the SproutX Accelerator.
We also reference 2 other episodes regarding the Circular Economy: Season 1, Episode 7 with Dr. Shafali Gupta and Andy Epifani, as well as Season 2, Episode 1 with Sara Smeath.
If you’re interested in finding out more, you can follow ALT.Leather’s Linkedin page, or get in touch with Tina directly at tinafunder[@]gmail.com.
Links
LOM Australia, Tina’s first foray into more sustainable materials
Co-Labs, the co-working lab space in support of science
Research on the 92 million tons of textile waste (Article | 11 pages)
Desserto, the world’s only producer of cactus leather
Creating Polyurethane and Polyvinyl Chloride as synthetic leathers and/or components of plant-based leather alternatives (Article | 1 min)
Show notes
[00:01:32] - [First question] – What Tina and ALT.Leather are trying to do
[00:03:07] - The total environmental impact of leather production
[00:05:03] - Issues with existing leather alternatives
[00:08:19] - Tina’s background and lightbulb moment to explore this space further
[00:10:35] - A shoutout to former guest Sara Smeath
[00:11:06] - Realizing where and why Tina could have the greatest impact
[00:12:38] - Assembling a team to take on this challenge
[00:16:30] - Working with and validating ideas with potential customers
[00:17:58] - Making the material itself - what goes into it and why
[00:20:07] - Additional manufacturing efficiency benefits compared to animal leather
[00:22:38] - The importance of focusing on circularity, and what happens at the “end” of a product’s lifecycle
[00:24:43] - What logistics are involved in order to turn agricultural waste into alternative leather
[00:27:43] - How Tina sees competition for agricultural waste as an input
[00:29:14] - Managing the fluctuation of input materials and production output
[00:30:30] - Roadmap for the next year of product development
[00:31:48] - Dream partners and a dream team
[00:33:07] - Where and how Tina envisions ALT.Leather scaling in the future
[00:33:58] - What Tina believes needs doing to get there
[00:34:28] - Socials and contact info
Season 2, Episode 5 - Turning agricultural waste into 100% plant-based leather