Gelatex

Gelatex Technologies is developing an organic leather like eco-textile Gelatex that does not only look but also feels like leather. 

The team behind Gelatex started to work on the idea in spring 2016 with the aim of making the textile industry more sustainable. Their goal was to make eco-friendly materials mass-produced in a fast and cost-effective way. 

The idea of using gelatin for the production of leather like textile grew out of university research. The company Gelatex Technologies was founded in November 2016 in Estonia.

Gelatex is a non-woven textile that is produced using gelatin made of low value waste of meat or leather industries. So besides skin it is possible to make leather like textiles from bones also, getting up to 5 times more material from the same animal. The properties of the material such as thickness, texture or even water resistance are customizable during the manufacturing process. The material comes in rolls, enabling faster cutting, a simplified design process and 15-20% less material waste. 

The Production process includes preparing a solution from gelatin, making the nano-fibrous non-woven mesh, laminating it with cotton and finishing with sustainable ingredients to offer durability and final touch. The approximate composition is 80% gelatin, 10% cotton, 3% glucose, 7% other additives.

Gelatex production process is fully automated and very efficient, using 78% less energy and 28% less water than leather production. There are no toxic chemicals used in the production process. Also, as colour pigments are added before they create the fibers, no wastewater is generated from the dyeing process which is usually the most polluting in textile or leather industries.The current available colours are light camel, grass green, salmon pink, dusty grey, and night black.

The material is water resistant, but not waterproof.

The company is on pilot production line and durability improvements to get material quality and production capacity stable. The material is currently available for selected brands interested in co-development. 

As there is currently a limited production capacity, the team do not send out free samples at the moment. They will be open to discuss the options, based on potential client's projects. 

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. The Startup won the Green Alley Award 2019.