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Two Retired Scientists Developed a Recycled Leather Product that's Being Adopted by Major Retailers

Retired scientists decided they wanted to use their backgrounds in chemistry and textile engineering to do something good for the planet.

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Sustainable Composites Introduces Recycled Enspire Leather To Market, And La-Z-Boy And Timberland Sign On

Five years ago two scientists had a mad idea: recycle leather scraps and turn them back into a usable leather product.

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Enspire Brings Sustainable Leather to Furniture Makers

When Sustainable Composites introduced its recycled leather product Enspire Leather in 2019, the fashion industry stepped up to adopt the new material.

Lancaster company develops process to recycle leather

NBC LANCASTER | OCTOBER 1, 2021

Susan Shapiro featured Sustainable Composites in a segment on NBC Lancaster.

Sustainable Composites offers a new alternative to leather

THE SPIN OFF | JULY 12, 2021

As a way to increase their focus on sustainability efforts, some companies are looking for ways to discard leather scraps and create products made with recycled materials in clothing, shoes, and...

Who is Sustainable Composites?

FOX HARRISBURG | MAY 21, 2021

Frank and Sustainable Composites were featured in a segment on sustainable businesses on Friday, May 21st during their 5 pm newscast.

Only Leather Alternative That Contains 100% Leather Fibres

FIBRE2FASHION | APRIL 2, 2021

Sustainable Composites is on a mission to recycle some of the 25-60 percent of leather typically discarded as scrap.

Enspire’s Recycled Leather Looks, Feels and Smells Like the Real Thing

SOURCING JOURNAL | MARCH 4, 2021

Frank Fox jokes that he co-founded Sustainable Composites, a Pennsylvania-based materials science company, in part because...

Enspire Leather, the scrap leather material from across the Atlantic

FASHION DESIGN | MARCH 2021

But what drives a duo of sexagenarians who have been retired for six years? Challenge materiality through the leather waste they have chosen to recover!

This Innovative Material Is Made Entirely from Leather Scraps

TREEHUGGER  | DECEMBER 3, 2020

Leather is complicated and controversial. On one hand, it's a natural material that lasts a long time, ages well, and is biodegradable at the end of its life.

Leathering the Storm

THE MANN REPORT | NOVEMBER, 2020

Ton Tymon and Frank Fox are the founding partners of Sustainable Composites, a company that produces a distinctive leather composite material. The two scientists are based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where they conduct research and development on how to utilize...

Pennsylvania scientists develop 100% leather waste fiber made from scraps

IN HABITAT | OCTOBER 22, 2020

After five years and $3 million worth of research and development, two Pennsylvania scientists have developed a proprietary process to create a brand new, 100% leather waste fiber.

Earth911 Podcast: Sustainable Composite’s Frank Fox Talks Recycled Leather

EARTH 911 | OCTOBER 12, 2020

Enspire leather is a novel take on recycling one of humanity’s oldest industrial materials. Earth911 talks with Frank Fox, co-founder of Sustainable Composites, a Lancaster, Pa.-based company...

Blog: A focus on the word ‘repurpose’

FURNITURE TODAY  | SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

The pandemic has made us all very aware of the need to adapt to change. This includes the necessity of repurposing many of the areas of our homes, and sometimes the items in our homes, for different...

Consumers Have Spoken & Sustainability is Here to Stay

INDUSTRY TODAY | JUNE 25, 2021

It’s not a secret that the environment needs our support. It’s been a topic of conversation for decades – but according to Forbes, 2020 marked a critical turning point for consumers’ expectations...

Lancaster company recycles old leather into belts, bags and more

CBS 21 NEWS | APRIL 9, 2021

Sustainable Composites is on a mission to recycle nearly four billion pounds of leather that's trashed every year, from unwanted scraps.

‘Retired’ Scientists Turn Leather Scraps Into Versatile enspire Leather

GREENLODGING NEWS | MARCH 10, 2021

According to Sustainable Composites LLC, 3.5 billion pounds of leather waste is burned or sent to landfills each year.

Interview With Frank Fox & Tom Tymon

FIBRE2FASHION | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

Founders Frank Fox and Tom Tymon of Sustainable Composites were on a mission to develop a process that could recycle some of the 25-60 percent of leather typically discarded as scrap.

Sustainable Composites on inking a partnership with Timberland and developing its unique product

FASHION NETWORK| JANUARY 28, 2021

Across every industry, the issue of sustainability has grown from a trendy murmur to a roar of necessity as the predictions of environmental experts become increasingly dire...

The Future of Functionality

FASHION NETWORK| JANUARY 28, 2021

According to the latest forecasting reports, key trends for the season ahead include protective materials made in a sustainable way appropriate for healthy, social distanced outdoor activities with a low bar of fitness entry...

Inside Leather Recycling with Sustainable Composites

WASTE 360| NOVEMBER 4, 2020

When an individual begins to research the amount of waste generated by the fashion industry, it’s sometimes enough to “Enspire” that person to find ways to reduce it.

Lancaster scientists patent a way to recycle leather, and Timberland’s parent company is interested 

CENTRAL PENN BUSINESS JOURNAL| OCTOBER 9, 2020

“By partnering with the team at Sustainable Composites, this fall we were able to introduce our first boots and shoes made using 100% recycled leather,” Gass said in an email statement to...

Textiles recycling gaining global investments

RECYCLING TODAY| OCTOBER 9, 2020

Research and investments are being made in several parts of the world to use mechanical recycling processes to turn discarded clothing and fabric into new products. Projects in locations ranging from Pennsylvania to Taiwan are targeting landfill diversion options...