is pu leather a vegan leather?
PU stands for polyurethane which is a type of plastic. There are two types of PU leather; full-synthetic and semi-synthetic.
Semi-synthetic PU leather has an animal leather base with a dried PU plastic mixture on top. Full synthetic PU leather has a base fabric material such as polyester, cotton, nylon, or rayon with a plastic coating applied over the base fabric.
Full synthetic PU leather is marketed as vegan leather as there are no animal skins used. However, the environmental impact of PU leather is significant.
PU leather is made from petroleum-based plastics that undergo intensive chemical processing to add color, texture, and protective coatings so they can look and feel like leather. At the end of use, PU leather products end up in landfills where they breakdown, leaking harmful chemicals into the environment and polluting our natural resources; our soil, drinking water, and our food chain. PU leather takes over 500 years to decompose.
There have been substantial advances in material innovation, especially for sustainable vegan leather alternatives known as biomaterials.
