The Bio Company (TBC) received an award at The PETA Vegan Fashion Awards in 2021, for its ingenuous use of the tomato’s waste for creating bioleather. Pritesh Mistry, founder of TBC is the one who has devised a way that transforms tomato waste into an eco-friendly alternative to leather that is free of the chemicals polyurethane (PU) as well as polyvinylchloride (PVC).

India as the second largest tomato producer, produces around 44 million tonnes of tomatoes annually which includes 30-35% that go into waste. The waste, which is mostly skin and seeds, is used as the base material for Bioleather. Mistry says that tomatoes contain pectin, which is a polymer that naturally occurs that improves the fabric’s durability and flexibility, as their fibrous structure as well as natural oils create an appearance that resembles leather.

Mistry’s story began when he was an undergraduate student in biotechnology in Thadomal Shahani Engineering College, which he designed Bioleather for an end-of-year research project. The trips to Kanpur’s tanneries and farms in the local area highlighted the negative environmental impacts from tanning the leather as well as food garbage. This led him to design a green alternative to address the two problems.

TBC introduced its first product, called ‘Original bioleather’, which was launched in 2019, focused on carbon neutral, vegan and biodegradable substances that are dyed using natural dyes. The company collects tomato waste from food processing facilities and also from farms located in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh, forming partnerships to recycle these by-products.

In TBC’s Surat manufacturing facility in Surat, Bioleather is crafted using tomato waste products, biopolymers plants-based binders and natural fibers. The process consists of mixing with non-toxic curing in order to create the leathery texture that is finished with a layer of plant-based material that improves the resistance to water and providing durability.

The popularity of bioleather is growing across clothing, accessories as well as the automotive sector. The Toronto-based Natasha Mangwani, founder & CEO of Satuhati is quoted as saying, “Bioleather is PU/PVC free that makes it different from traditional faux leathers. It’s a remarkable innovation, and the plant-based leather sticks apart due to its distinctive basis: tomato products that have been discarded.”

The current capacity of TBC’s production is approximately 5,000 meters of Bioleather every month. The company has plans to expand according to demand. Mistry insists on maintaining high-quality and sustainable production as its top priorities.

Source: the better india