From Nature to High Performing Leather
From Nature to High Performing Leather
Silvateam technologists have worked over 5 years to combine renewable natural tannin sources with safe man-made additives to create something entirely new: high performing leathers without harmful ingredients.
Ecotan leather articles do not contain toxic substances that can poison land, water or air. They are free of metals, aldehydes, triazine or any other substances listed in the ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL), which ensures the safety of both tanners and consumers.
The result is a tanning system safe for us and the earth. Nature improved.
Sustainable and harmless raw materials
We borrowed Nature’s robust, time tested solution to bacterial attack and applied human ingenuity to create a superior leather.
Sustainable and harmless raw materials
We borrowed Nature’s robust, time tested solution to bacterial attack and applied human ingenuity to create a superior leather.
The Ecotan tanning process:
safe from beginning to end
While other tanning systems can claim that their finished products are clean & safe to use, they rely on the use of toxic chemicals like glutaraldehyde during the tanning process.
Ecotan tanning uses only ingredients that are deemed safe and bio-circular. An industry first, this means that at no point in the process of transforming animals hides into finished leather dangerous substances are used. Silvateam’s tanning system is paired with other inputs, like oils, finishing waxes and pigments to create finished leather made to this new, safer standard.
Natural tannins:
the main ingredients
Nature is a great chemist. For millions of years, plants have used tannins to protect themselves against bacteria, fungi, viruses, and even animals. As players in the long game of evolution, each organism looks to outmaneuver the other: plants do so by defending themselves against attack, while the others by looking to overcome those defenses. Even though tannins mount a robust and effective defense for plants, they remain a seamless part of nature’s cycle of birth, life, death and renewal.
Today, thanks to Silvateam ingenuity, we are able to borrow this time-tested plant defense to protect animal hides in a new way. The result is Ecotan leather.
Tannins:
safely and simply made
Silvateam tannin extracts are safe for people and are produced to food grade standards. Apart from serving as tanning agents, these extracts are also used in the nutraceutical industry, in beer & wine making and in agriculture.
Ecotan tannins start with these food grade extracts. They are allergen-free, avoid the risks of leather tanned with metals and can be returned to the earth safely.
Clean and
safe
Natural tannins contain no toxic substances and are exempt from REACH registration.
Pollution free process
No wastewater or chemical waste is produced when making Ecotan tannins.
Extracted without chemicals
Source wood is chipped, then steeped in hot water like tea and then dried to a powder extract.
Clean and
safe
Natural tannins contain no toxic substances and are exempt from REACH registration.
Pollution free process
No wastewater or chemical waste is produced when making Ecotan tannins.
Extracted without chemicals
Source wood is chipped, then steeped in hot water like tea and then dried to a powder extract.
Ecotan tanning Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Independent assessment of tannins was carried out to gather scientific data on their carbon footprint and to continuously improve the extraction process, while reducing the environmental impact.
Silvateam is the first in the industry to certify the carbon footprint value of its products, expressed as the number of kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2e) per kilogram of product analyzed.
Ecotan tanning Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Independent assessment of tannins was carried out to gather scientific data on their carbon footprint and to continuously improve the extraction process, while reducing the environmental impact.
Silvateam is the first in the industry to certify the carbon footprint value of its products, expressed as the number of kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2e) per kilogram of product analyzed.
PEFC certification
Silvateam is the first company offering leather tanning products to be rewarded with the forest certification PEFC for its production of chestnut (PEFC Certificate number 27910 ) and quebracho (PEFC Certificate number 006971) tannins. These certifications are proof of Silvateam’s commitment to the protection of forests in compliance with strict local forestry regulations and of the communities that rely on those same forests for their livelihood.
PEFC certification
Silvateam is the first company offering leather tanning products to be rewarded with the forest certification PEFC for its production of chestnut (PEFC Certificate number 27910 ) and quebracho (PEFC Certificate number 006971) tannins. These certifications are proof of Silvateam’s commitment to the protection of forests in compliance with strict local forestry regulations and of the communities that rely on those same forests for their livelihood.