Impactos Ambientais Na Cadeia Produtiva Do Couro Bovino: Novos Materiais De Substituição Do Couro

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the environmental impacts of the leather productive chain to show alternative materials for substitution. In this sense, researches were made to revel and highlight the environmental damage of the leather industry to compare with other five materials that have physical and chemical properties similar to leather, less environmental impact and do not use animals as raw material. These materials were defined as Synthetic Leather, Piñatex, BioCouture, Muskin and the company Modern Meadow, which biofabricates leather. This research has identified that these new materials are better alternatives in environmental terms in relation to the use of animal leather. However, leather is still a highly valued material and it is necessary that the companies that use this material and the consumers that buy these products be more conscious in choosing types of leather that has less environmental damage during the productive chain.