The peel or leaves left over from the apple or mango juice you drink at breakfast could become premium sneakers or a stylish handbag. Around the world, a new sustainable fashion trend uses pineapple, apple, grape and orange waste as raw material, turning it through modern biotechnology into premium vegan leather that is appearing on runways from Paris to Milan.

• **Apple (AppleSkin):** apple peel and pulp residue from juice and jam factories is made into smooth leather. The Italian company Frumat first developed the technology.
• **Grape:** after winemaking, the grape pomace of skins, seeds and stalks is turned into "grape skin" or "wine leather", patented first by the Italian biotech company VEGEA.
• **Pineapple leaves (Piñatex):** leaves left in the field after the pineapple harvest are collected instead of burned; cellulose fibres are extracted and processed into durable vegan leather. The patent and commercial production belong to Ananas Anam.
• **Mango:** Rotterdam-based startup Fruitleather Rotterdam collects over-ripe or rejected mangoes free of charge at Europe's largest port, blends peel and pulp into a paste, sterilises it without harmful chemicals, dries it into sheets and finishes it with a waterproof coating for shoes, bags and wallets.
• **Citrus peel:** the Italian brand Ohoskin dries orange waste from Sicily's juice industry into powder and mixes it with cactus components to make a patented luxury leather used in car interiors, watch straps and bags.
• **Coconut water:** Malai, a bio-materials startup from Kerala, India, ferments waste coconut water with bacteria to produce a cellulose gel, which is mixed with banana fibre, plant gum and natural oils; the material is plastic-free and fully biodegradable.
• **Banana stems:** companies in Switzerland and India, such as Bananatex, extract strong natural fibre from discarded banana stems to make chemical-free, compostable material.

Stella McCartney makes handbags and sneakers from apple leather; Hugo Boss has sold limited-edition sneakers made from Piñatex using pineapple waste from the Philippines; H&M used VEGEA grape leather in its Conscious Exclusive collection; Karl Lagerfeld and Fossil use Mexican brand Desserto's cactus leather; and Hermès worked with US biotech firm MycoWorks on a mushroom-based version of its Victoria travel bag.

Bangladesh is already a major name in garments and leather, and the writer argues vegan leather could be a new opportunity:

• **A new export sector:** the country is a large producer of mango, jackfruit and pineapple, and tonnes of peel and waste are dumped every year. Turning it into vegan leather, through local technology or joint ventures, could create a promising "Made in Bangladesh" export.
• **Less pollution:** tanning animal hides releases toxic chromium and chemicals that pollute rivers and air, while fruit leather needs no toxic chemicals.
• **Extra income for farmers:** pineapple leaves and banana stems that farmers now burn or throw away could be sold as raw material.
• **Garment inputs:** labels, jackets and accessories made from fruit leather could raise the value of Bangladeshi clothing with international buyers.

If Bangladesh invests in this green technology now and opens the way for young entrepreneurs, the writer concludes, it could compete in the global sustainable fashion market.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.