TVU – The mango peel, which seemed to be discarded as waste, is now being transformed into synthetic leather with similar properties to real leather, creating eco-friendly products and reducing the impact on the environment by a group of young students from Tra Vinh University.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, a student from Banking and Finance program, and the project leader, explains that producing leather from mango peel is an idea to reduce the environmental impact of the leather manufacturing industry. The product has similar properties to real leather and meets quality and durability requirements equivalent to leather products.
The project’s goal is to meet customer demands for aesthetics while also ensuring environmental protection and minimizing the use of genuine leather from animals.
Regarding the process of making leather from mango peel, Thanh Van adds: After collecting the mango peel, the remaining flesh is removed, and the tannin content on the peel is cleaned to ensure the best quality of the product.
Next, the mango peel is boiled, compressed, and dried to create the final product. The product undergoes thorough quality checks before being introduced to the market, including thickness, elasticity, and colorfastness, and is packaged and stored in a dry and well-ventilated environment to ensure product quality.
Master Nguyen Van Vu An, Director of Tra Vinh Province’s Business Incubator, Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Tra Vinh University, remarks that the idea of producing leather from mango peel is a unique and creative solution as the product is not yet available in the market and holds many distinct values compared to traditional leather products. The main difference is that mango peel is used as a primary material instead of traditional materials like cow or sheep leather.
Using mango peel to produce leather brings significant benefits. Mango peel is a by-product in the mango production process, which was previously often wasted or disposed of. With the idea of producing leather from mango peel, we can utilize the mango peel, reducing waste and contributing to environmental protection.
The mango peel leather product also has distinctive colors and patterns compared to traditional leather products. Mango peel has a bright brown color and unique patterns, and when bleached and dyed, it produces leather with distinctive colors and patterns different from traditional leather products.
Producing leather from mango peel has lower production costs compared to traditional leather production. Mango peel is a by-product, sold at a lower price than traditional leather types. Therefore, using mango peel for leather production helps reduce material costs and create competitively priced products in the market.
In the near future, the project will continue to participate in the semi-finals of the “Rural Youth Entrepreneurship Project” competition in 2023, organized by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee, and the semi-finals of the “Student with Creative Entrepreneurship Ideas” competition in 2023, organized by Nguyen Tat Thanh University (Ho Chi Minh City).
By TD
