Composition leather is made from recycled leather

Leather

Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...

 off-cuts, trimmings and shavings that would normally be sent by the leather industry to landfill

Landfill

A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...

. The type of leather specifically used in the manufacture of composition leather is called ‘wet blue’. This raw material, which is duck-egg blue in colour (hence the name), comes straight from tanning

Tanning

Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...

.

Characteristics

Composition leather enables a higher cutting yield than leather. This is because the material is man-made from leather fibres, produced in rolls 1.4m wide and is not derived from leather hides, as in traditional leather.

A leather hide

Hides

A hide is an animal skin treated for human use. Hides include leather from cattle and other livestock animals, alligator skins, snake skins for shoes and fashion accessories and furs from wild cats, mink and bears. In some areas, leather is produced on a domestic or small industrial scale, but most...

 at its widest point is 914.4mm (36”) and 2,286mm (90”) long, whereas composition leather is available, cut to length, from a roll width of 1.4m (55”). This in turn results in less wastage and reduced material costs.

Composition leather gives a uniform finish with minimal batch-to-batch variation. It has no natural defects that are associated with real leather made from leather hides (which will always bear the marks of its natural origin).

The characteristics of leather from hides can show up as:

• Healed scars: Resulting from barbed wire damage or by the horns of other cattle.
• Growth marks: Quite pronounced in the neck area.
• Grain variation: Varying from being loose in the belly and flank areas to relatively tight across the backbone.
• Shade variation: Each hide is different with varying grain structure, which means the dyes and finishes used penetrate to differing degrees. This means that uniformity is not always possible.

Composition leather is up to 50 per cent lighter than traditional leather and can be up to 30 per cent lighter than moquette

Moquette

Moquette is type of fabric with a thick, dense pile. It is a particularly versatile and hard-wearing material, predominantly wool with a small percentage of polyester. Moquette is renowned for its attractive, hard-wearing, durable, and fire-resistant qualities, hence it is commonly used for...

. For commercial transport companies such as those operating bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

 or coach

Coach (vehicle)

A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...

 services, this weight reduction allows them to save on fuel consumption.

Uses

Composition leather is increasingly being adopted as an alternative to traditional leather for footwear

Footwear

Footwear consists of garments worn on the feet, for fashion, protection against the environment, and adornment. Being barefoot is commonly associated with poverty, but some cultures chose not to wear footwear at least in some situations....

, leather goods (including document folders, bags and wallets), airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 seating, taxi

Taxicab

A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...

 seating, car

Čar

Čar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...

 upholstery

Upholstery

Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word upholstery comes from the Middle English word upholder, which referred to a tradesman who held up his goods. The term is equally applicable to domestic,...

, marine upholstery, commercial upholstery and domestic upholstery.

External links

• Classifying miscellaneous leather or composition leather items: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1080282147&type=RESOURCES
• The 2009 World Forecasts of Composition Leather with a Leather or Leather Fiber Base in the Forms of Slabs, Sheets, or Strip Export Supplies: http://www.researchandmarkets.co.uk/reportinfo.asp?report_id=665665
• The 2009 Import and Export Market for Composition Leather with a Leather or Leather Fiber Base in the Forms of Slabs, Sheets, or Strip in the United Kingdom: http://www.researchandmarkets.co.uk/reportinfo.asp?report_id=1077554
• Imports of Manufacturers of Leather or Composition Leather (Saddlery and Harness): http://www.craftsintheenglishcountryside.org.uk/pdfs/Table%2013.pdf
• UK Manufacturers of Composition Leather http://www.eleathergroup.com/