Piñatex: leather from pineapples?!

Pineapple leather, or Piñatex as it's called, came about in a time when the debate around the leather industry was just beginning to take hold – and the arguments in favour of leather centred heavily around the scarce sustainability credentials of the faux variety. 

Animal leather was described (somewhat disingenuously) as a “by-product” of the meat trade, which made it look almost like the leather industry was recovering waste by making cows' skins into bags, jackets, and shoes. 

At the same times, petroleum-derived faux leather was – rather correctly – labelled as “plastic”, and, as such, bad news for the environment.

But then came along the game changer: Brazilian material innovation company Ananas Anam. Founded by Dr Carmen Hijosa, Ananas Anam has harnessed the power of a natural resource that is a true by-product: the leaves of the pineapples. 

The long leaves which grow alongside the plant would typically be discarded as they are considered waste – pineapples only flower and fruit once, so when that process is done, the leaves are a surplus. 

But Ananas Anam has found a way to provide pineapple farmers in the Philippines, where their sources are located, with an additional stream of income by buying the leaves and transforming them into leather.

The transformation process is achieved by felting the long fibres together, making a leather-like substrate. The leftover biomass can also be used as a fertiliser – who knew a pineapple could provide this much goodness?

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