The apparel sector has a severe negative environmental impact, in which many hazardous chemicals and heavy metals are being used on a large scale. Causing health issues for employees in the sector and polluting the soils and rivers in surrounding areas.
Piloting
By 2025, frontrunning brands will have launched sustainable high quality leather articles, made with our chrome -and metal free tanning agent.
To achieve this, we’re setting up a professional, fair and sustainable sea buckthorn value chain, offering employment to ca. 3.000 people per season.
- We completed years of R&D on the DesertSpring tanning agent.
- In 2021 we successfully validated the supply chain by harvesting 20 tons of sea buckthorn leaves.
- We turned our harvest into 5 tons of extract, the main ingredient of the DesertSpring tanning agent.
- Together with 70 -100 pickers we facilitated a fair and sustainable process.
- The first lab tests of our tanning agent at Bhartiya in India showed results that were beyond positive: Not only is the quality great, but the tanning process might be more efficient than traditional industrial agents
- We continued lab tests on different types of skins, complying to the highest quality standards within the leather industry.
- We’re in conversation with an exclusive selection of fashion brands to introduce DesertSpring tanned leather articles to the market.
DesertSpring
The apparel sector has a severe negative environmental impact, in which many hazardous chemicals and heavy metals are being used on a large scale. Causing health issues for employees in the sector and polluting the soils and rivers in surrounding areas.
Piloting
By 2025, frontrunning brands will have launched sustainable high quality leather articles, made with our chrome -and metal free tanning agent.
To achieve this, we’re setting up a professional, fair and sustainable sea buckthorn value chain, offering employment to ca. 3.000 people per season.
- We completed years of R&D on the DesertSpring tanning agent.
- In 2021 we successfully validated the supply chain by harvesting 20 tons of sea buckthorn leaves.
- We turned our harvest into 5 tons of extract, the main ingredient of the DesertSpring tanning agent.
- Together with 70 -100 pickers we facilitated a fair and sustainable process.
- The first lab tests of our tanning agent at Bhartiya in India showed results that were beyond positive: Not only is the quality great, but the tanning process might be more efficient than traditional industrial agents
- We continued lab tests on different types of skins, complying to the highest quality standards within the leather industry.
- We’re in conversation with an exclusive selection of fashion brands to introduce DesertSpring tanned leather articles to the market.
DesertSpring is bringing an innovative, patented technology to the leather market. It offers a chrome -and metal free leather tanning alternative based on the powerful sea buckthorn shrub.
Not only does this tanning agent allow for cleaner production (tanning) of leather, it contributes to combating soil erosion and desertification, as sea buckthorn grows organically in poor, degraded areas. Moreover, the local community’s benefit from its high value berries and leaves.
We’re proud to launch this vegetable-based leather tanning concept, enabling a triple positive impact on water, soil and people.