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Kaltrina Bylykbashi
Piñatex is classified as a transitional material.
Piñatex is a textile developed to be a sustainable alternative to mass-produced Leather and synthetic materials. It's suitable for use across fashion, accessories, soft interiors and automotive parts. Made from the leaves of the pineapple plant, it is a byproduct of existing agriculture in the Philippines.
The company behind the material, Ananas Anam, works directly with farming cooperatives in the territory which helps to create a stream of income for the farms. 16 pineapples produce roughly around one square metre of Piñatex. Piñafelt – a non-woven mesh made of pineapple fibre and corn-based PLA – which forms the base of all Piñatex collections is biodegradable under controlled industrial conditions, however, the majority of the collection features PU resin coating which means they are not 100% biodegradable. The material has been used by over 1000 brands worldwide including Hugo Boss, H&M and Hilton Hotels.
Piñatex contains corn-based PLA, which breaks down in industrially compostable conditions. However, it is still classed as plastic under the EU definition because it is chemically modified during its manufacture. It also has some end-of-life issues in that many existing composting sites deem the material a contaminant – and its true impact on the natural environment is still largely misunderstood.
The most problematic element of the textile, however, is the PU coating, which despite being REACH compliant and having bio-based content within it, widely still acts like plastic and stops the textile biodegrading overall.
Leather-like materials without plastic-based binders or coatings already exist. Take Natural Fiber Welding’s Mirum, for example, which is totally plastic free, with no synthetic elements used to bind or coat the material. NFW's recipe of natural nutrients means the material breaks back down into natural nutrients at the end of its life. Reishi mushroom leather from MycoWorks is another plastic-free solution. Made using the brand's Fine Mycelium technology, the company patented engineering process transforms mycelium into a leather-like material that matches the strength, durability and colourfastness of real leather.
