Spinnova, a Finnish manufacturer of textile fibers derived from wood or waste, and KT Trading, a Swiss firm specialized in the sourcing and trading of materials for the leather industry, have managed to generate a fiber from leather waste without using harmful chemicals. The two companies have created a joint venture, Respin, and started building a pilot plant in Finland to produce the leather fiber. The facility is scheduled to come on stream at the end of 2021. Spinnova has been working with the applied research division of Ecco since 2018. The Finnish company claims that the partners have “made successful trials” spinning protein biomass into fiber to help reach a sustainable circular process. KT Trading is a major supplier for Ecco, a big shoemaker that has tanning operations of its own.

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