Material Circularity: A Novel Method for Biobased Carbon Quantification of Leather, Artificial Leather, and Trendy Alternatives

Abstract

In the past, climate change led the United Nations to define the Sustainable Development Goals Statement “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future” and the European Commission to promote the “bioeconomy” concept and to launch the Green Deal Policy. Accordingly, the COP26 conference proposed a drastic reduction of fossil-based fuels and materials, in favor of biobased materials which should ensure intrinsic carbon neutrality. Contextually, many startups and established materials suppliers proposed new, trendy materials claiming sustainability advantages but, in many cases, without robust scientific backing. The need for transparency in terms of circularity led us to exploit a fast, reliable and easily deployable analytical method for assessing the biogenic carbon fraction in a variety of industrial materials. Our research team identified a radiocarbon analysis based on Saturated-absorption CAvity Ring-down (SCAR) spectroscopy as a quick and effective method for such a scope. Here we demonstrate its use for the determination of biogenic/fossil carbon proportions of polymeric and coated materials such as leather, coated textiles and trendy alternatives used in the fashion industry, with the scope of defining their intrinsic renewable content. The reliability of the SCAR method is validated through a comparison with the results obtained by the benchmark technique.