Exploring mycelium/mushroom derived leather dyeing applications, using food-waste derived dyes, for the development of sustainable fashion products

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This project is a collaboration between SAGES, Osmose Studio and Cranfield University. The project will test and refining three different methods for the application of SAGES food-waste derived dyes to Osmose's mycelium-leather.**THE NEED FOR A BIO-BASED LEATHER**_**Traditional Leathers**_Leather has a disastrous impact on the environment and human health. To meet the demands of the fashion industry, over 50 million animals are reared and killed per year to make leather \[Stella McCartney,2021\]; contributing to destruction of forestry for farmland and the release of methane into the environment. With the demand for leather expected to double from 2022-2030, there is a clear need for cleaner and more renewable leather sources \[Globenewswire,2022\].Leather requires tanning and a common chemical used is chromium (III), which if oxidised becomes chromium (VI), a known toxin and carcinogen. Leather tanning also produces hazardous wastewater effluent, solid waste, air pollutants, and exposes workers to harmful chemicals \[EPA\]. Leather-tannery workers in Sweden and Italy, found cancer risks between 20% and 50% above those expected \[PETA\].Currently, praised 'vegan-leathers' are predominantly polymer-based which do not biodegrade.Osmose has developed a proprietary process for the creation of Mykko: a mycelium-based leather. In order to bring this to market and ensure biodegradeability, it is desirable for Mykko to come in a range of colours created using a bio-based dye._**Synthetic Dyes**_Although dyes have been known to mankind since ancient times, it was not until the late nineteenth century that synthetic forms began to be manufactured, causing a range of human health issues including high incidence of bladder cancer \[Christie,2007\], diseases such as dermatitis and disorders of the central nervous system \[Khan & Malik,2018\].Synthetics now dominate the dyeing industry. Toxic chemicals and heavy-metals are used during the dyeing process and make it difficult for waste-effluent to be effectively cleaned. This is a major problem in countries which still dominate the dyeing industry like China, Bangladesh, Thailand and Indonesia.SAGES is a textiles industry start up making natural dyes from food-waste. These dyes are a bio-based solution to the harmful synthetic dyes the industry currently uses. 6 dye colours have been selected for further development in this project Pink, Yellow, Blue, Green, Coral, Purple.**OUR SOLUTION**SAGES will work with Osmose to test a range of dyeing applications to create a fully bio-based leather. Cranfield University has extensive knowledge in material innovation and will provide expertise on this project