Leather production generates unavoidable post-industrial offcuts, such as splits, trimmings, shavings and dust. One of the largest of these streams is known as wet blue shavings, thin layers removed during leather processing to ensure a consistent thickness. Historically, many of these materials have had limited recycling or reuse options and have often been sent for disposal or energy recovery.
As new approaches to material reuse continue to emerge, ECCO wanted to explore whether these leather side streams could be transformed into something of greater value. The goal was to find a way to retain more of the material’s inherent qualities and potentially extend its useful life through new applications.
This ambition led to a long-term research collaboration with Spinnova and ultimately to the formation of a joint venture in 2020. Together, the companies developed a technology that transforms post-industrial leather offcuts into textile-grade fibres while preserving the natural softness and flexible structure of the original leather fibre. The resulting fibres can be spun into yarns and used in a variety of woven and knitted textile applications.
As part of this research and development journey, ECCO and Spinnova reached an important technical milestone by achieving the quality consistency and production volumes needed to produce a pilot scale commercial product. The resulting fabric, consisting of 60% protein-based fibre derived from leather offcuts and 40% GRS-certified recycled polyester, meets ECCO’s Quality Performance Standards.
In April 2026, ECCO released a limited edition of the ECCO BIOM 720 footwear collection. This small-scale launch enables ECCO to gather valuable insights into the material performance in real-life use, durability, and consumer response while continuing to development and evaluate the technology.