A sign of the times and a planetary awareness that is welcome today, the automobile manufacturer Bentley, recognized for already being sensitive to the environmental cause, recently decided to take an even more ecological path over the coming years for development. of its vehicles.
The British company is offering a new technology that will allow it to dress its luxury cars using a brand new product for tanning its leathers.
This novelty arouses interest because it will allow the company to abandon its old tanning processes based on toxic products for a contemporary, entirely organic method.
The news did not go unnoticed in the automotive world, considering the fact that the Bentley company is recognized throughout the world for its luxurious leathers. The company has accustomed its customers to leather that is not only elegant, but is also very durable and of higher quality than the competition.
Organic leather, eco-responsible car
Bentley’s initiative therefore offers tanned leather with this new product which, at first glance, may still seem surprising.
The process uses wastewater from the olive oil industry, the same one that we are used to finding in family kitchens all over the world.
However, this tanning agent is completely ecological, free of metals, minerals and other substances that could be difficult to recycle.
In this regard, you should know that global leather production recycles around 270 million skins each year that would otherwise end up in waste.
The technique used also consumes less water than the traditional tanning process and allows greater use of renewable chemicals.
According to the company, its new process creates incredibly soft leather and, what’s more, promises very high durability. Bentley called it “Olive Tan” leather.
The result is a completely innovative organic leather. At least that’s what the manufacturer claims, which prides itself on being the first company in the automotive industry to use this technique for treating wastewater derived from olive oil.
Unveiling in California
The Olive Tan was first introduced last August in an all-new Bentley model during Monterey Car Week. This event is important in the industry since it is an international car show focused on classic cars.
The presentation of this leather during this show gave a good overview of what is coming for the future, since the manufacturer has indicated that it intends to extend this type of leather to all of its range of vehicles, which would make Bentley a pioneer in the field.
History of reducing environmental impact
This is not the first time that the British car manufacturer has innovated to reduce the environmental impact of the interior of its cars. The firm already uses leather made from skins which are all traceable and which come from a by-product of the meat industry.
The manufacturer needs, in fact, eight to twelve skins per car, all from the European Union. The other thing these skins have in common is that they are in no way linked to deforestation.
In other words, Bentley recycles on a large scale. Whether with the skins it chooses or with the tanning process, the company can pride itself on recycling products that would usually be destined for the landfill.
One technology at a time
The creation of this new type of 100% organic leather to dress its interiors is part of a more general initiative by Bentley, a plan called “Beyond 100”, the objective of which is to make the company more sustainable.
This leather tanning technology is not the type of revolutionary innovation that everyone will be talking about in the future, but there is something frankly reassuring about seeing the automotive industry turning to new ecological processes.
When new technologies used in the automotive world help protect our planet, we can speak of a winning avenue. And when a high-end automobile manufacturer gets involved, we can be delighted to see the automobile industry becoming a major laboratory for the technology of tomorrow in everyone’s daily lives.