Our Materials

We are always seeking new waste-derived materials to craft our products, and love meeting companies that share our passion for eliminating waste. Here are some of the incredible materials that we have used to create our collections over the years, including fabric made from tannery off-cut leather, discarded clothes, single-use plastic bottles, and even apple skins. Read their stories below.

GRAPE LEATHER ALTERNATIVE

Grape leather alternative is a new-generation biomaterial made from the grape skins, stalks and seeds - a waste stream of winemaking in Provence. These residues are collected, dried, and processed into a natural powder, which is then combined with bio-based and recycled components to create a durable, flexible material with the look and feel of leather. The material is made from organic, local, vineyard waste, promoting a circular design approach and reducing the fashion industry's environmental impact. The production process is free from harmful solvents and heavy metals.

AppleSkin™

AppleSkin™ is an innovative alternative to leather, made from agricultural waste. It transforms discarded apple peels and cores from the juice industry into a durable, vegan material. Each year, around 30,000 tonnes of apple waste is produced, and an estimated 3.7 trillion apples never even make it to market because of imperfections. AppleSkin™ was created in Italy as a way to utilise this vast waste stream. Apple residues are dried, ground into a fine powder, then combined with a binder and pigment before being spread onto a canvas to form a leather-like material. For every kilogramme of apple waste used as a substitution for PUs, 5.28Kg of CO2 is saved.  

Certified by the Global Recycle Standard (GRS).

PIÑATEX

Piñatex is a leather alternative made from pineapple leaves, an agricultural by-product of the pineapple harvest. Each year, pineapple farming generates around 13 million tonnes of leaf waste globally. By repurposing this waste, Piñatex saves approximately 12kg of CO2 for every meter of material produced. Our partners at Ananas Anam collect and process the discarded leaves: fibres are extracted, cleaned, and purified, then combined with a corn-based polylactic acid. This blend is mechanically transformed into a non-woven mesh — the foundation of Piñatex. Once the fibre is removed from the leaves, the leftover biomass can be repurposed as natural fertiliser or biofuel, supporting a closed-loop production cycle. Certified by the Vegan Society, PETA Approved Vegan, and REACH Compliant.

RECYCLED POLYESTER

Annually, it is estimated that 360 million metric tonnes of plastic waste is generated, and less than 10% is recycled. To help address this challenge, our partners at YKK have developed NATULON® eco-friendly zips, made from post-consumer PET bottles. Through a chemical recycling process — including granulation, purification, and polymerisation — PET waste is transformed into recycled polyester yarn. This yarn is then used to create zipper tape, which we incorporate across all our products. Our zipper teeth are made from 80% recycled brass developed by our partners at Riri, saving up to 90% of energy required for the production of virgin brass, ensuring both durability and a reduced environmental footprint.

USED ADVERTISING BANNERS

When it comes to recycling rates, the outdoor advertising industry has a lot of catching up to do. Currently less than 1% of all advertising banners are recycled.  Designed to be durable and weather proof, these are often made from Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), often bonded to a polyester mesh for strength and are almost impossible to process through standard recycling systems. 

As a result, most end up being incinerated, releasing harmful emissions and causing significant environmental damage. Yet banners are also designed to be incredibly durable for outdoor use, meaning that when campaigns end, they are often still in excellent condition. Combined with their bright and vibrant colours, this makes them an ideal material for upcycling into accessories, furniture, or other long-lasting products.

At BEEN, we partnered with industry leaders like JC Decaux and Ubiquitous to tackle this challenge. After extensive research and development, we have created innovative solutions to upcycle and recycle outdoor advertising banners—transforming a problematic waste stream into durable, functional materials for a whole range of products.

RECYCLED LEATHER

The leather industry has a huge impact: its annual global emissions are equal to those of 30 million cars, and around 70% of rainforest clearance is linked to growing feed crops for livestock used in leather production. Virgin leather drives deforestation, excessive water use, waterway pollution, and massive CO₂ emissions — all of which contribute directly to global warming. Our recycled leather offers a better way, made from tannery offcuts and trimmings that would otherwise go to waste as well as post-consumer waste, re-formed without adhesives and instead bound using high-pressure water jets. Certified by the Global Recycle Standard (GRS), this process creates a strong, durable material with a fraction of the environmental cost. 

100% RECYCLED ACRYLIC

We use the world’s first and only 100% recycled and recyclable acrylic, produced in Italy. Unlike traditional acrylics derived from virgin fossil fuels, Green Cast® is created entirely from pre- and post-consumer waste, giving new life to material that would otherwise be discarded. Through a closed-loop process, acrylic waste is depolymerised back into its raw monomer, then repolymerised into sheets with the same quality, transparency, and durability as virgin acrylic. The result is a high-performance material with a drastically reduced environmental footprint. Green Cast® is REACH and RoHS compliant, manufactured under ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications, and can be recycled again at the end of its life — ensuring a truly circular approach.

RECYCLED FELT

Each year, around 350 tonnes of clothing goes to landfill in the UK — and 90% of corporate uniforms are simply discarded. Our partners in Italy and the Netherlands collect post-consumer waste such as corporate uniforms from KLM and IKEA, shred them down to a fine fibre, and needle them onto a polyester core to create a durable, recycled felt. We use recycled felt across multiple products, both for padding and as a structural material. 

REGENERATED NYLON

More than 90% of the rubbish in our oceans is plastic, with discarded nylon fishing nets among the worst offenders. On land, around 400,000 tonnes of carpets are discarded in the UK each year. We work with our ECONYL® to give this waste a second life. Nylon nets are recovered from the sea and rescue carpets from landfill, sorted and cleaned. A polymer is then added to the fibers to create high-quality regenerated nylon, which is woven into new textiles. For every 10,000 tonnes of ECONYL® produced, 70,000 barrels of crude oil are saved — dramatically reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

100% RECYCLED COTTON

It takes approximately 9,000 LITRES of water to produce just 1KG of virgin cotton. Cotton, the world’s largest non-food crop, comes with a heavy environmental cost - demanding vast amounts of water, relying heavily on pesticides, and often linked to questionable labour practices. In the US and UK alone, over 16.8 million tonnes of cotton is discarded every year. The cotton we use is 100% recycled and is made by collecting pre-consumer cotton ‘waste’, mechanically processing it, and spinning it back into yarns to be re-woven. This closed-loop approach saves resources, cuts waste, and creates a more responsible way of making.

100% RECYCLED PLASTIC

Almost 400 million tonnes of plastic is discarded every year, yet according to the UN, only 9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled. Our partners on the southwest coast of Wales transform things like discarded yoghurt pots and single-use packaging into durable, high-quality  and stunning 100% recycled plastic sheets. During production, no toxic chemicals, resins, or binders are added to the raw material. A zero-waste production model means that all off-cuts are reused, and can be recycled again at the end of its life. The material is REACH compliant and certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards.

TRACEABLE MARINE PLASTIC

It is estimated that every year, between 1-2 million tonnes of plastic ends up in our oceans, having devastating impacts on marine life. We work with a UK-based team who tackle this problem by recovering fishing nets and other plastics from British coastlines and transforming this waste into Traceable Marine Plastic™ polymers. Processed entirely within the UK, these materials are fully accountable, with every kilogram tracked through unique identifiers that ensure complete supply chain transparency. The pellets can be melted and remoulded into a wide range of products, proving that marine waste can be reimagined as a valuable resource.

Get in touch

If you have any questions about our materials - please reach out!