Objective Materiko is an Italian company specialising in the manufacture of revolutionary artificial high quality textiles. Due to the flexibility, and high-quality afforded by genuine leather, compared to conventional textiles, it has been used for centuries as material in several industries. However, leather is prone to scratching, water damage and UV damage which can limit its uses, particularly in external applications. Furthermore, the way in which leather is produced presents a huge environmental problem. The tanning process for genuine leather uses on average 360 L of water per m2 and over 50 L of that needs to be processing by wastewater treatment plants for chromium waste considered to be hugely toxic by the EU. To alleviate these environmental problems as well as consumer movement towards non-animal origin products a range of artificial leathers have been developed such as PVC and polyurethane (PU) based faux leathers and natural plant based options. PVC and PU based artificial leather have their own environmental problems including similarly high water usage, use of toxic chemicals and poor recyclability. Both plastic based and plant based leather alternatives have durability and quality issues when replicating genuine leather. The need for a high-quality, more durable, weather-proof leather like material which eliminates animal cruelty, water usage and toxic wastage associated with the genuine leather industry is clear and one for which Materiko have developed an innovative solution. Our EcoLeather is a novel material manufactured using an innovative semi-automatic manufacturing technique which produces a water and chemical free leather alternative which improves upon the physical properties of genuine, such as durability, scratch and weather resistance. With the high-end leather goods market worth an estimated €45 bn globally there is a huge demand for a leather alternative with improved physical properties. Fields of science engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processeswastewater treatment processesnatural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrytransition metalsnatural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciencespolyurethaneengineering and technologymaterials engineeringtextiles Keywords Leather Eco-friendly Polyurethane Resin Spray-layering Luxury Textile Durable UV-resistance Scratch-resistance Waterproof Fire-resistance Programme(s) H2020-EU.3.5. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials Main Programme H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument Topic(s) SMEInst-11-2016-2017 - Boosting the potential of small businesses in the areas of climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials Call for proposal H2020-SMEInst-2016-2017 See other projects for this call Sub call H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017 Funding Scheme SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1 Coordinator MATERIKO SRL Net EU contribution € 50 000,00 Address Via galliera bl 4b gall.30 252 40050 Funo di argelato Italy See on map Region Nord-Est Emilia-Romagna Bologna Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 21 429,00
