The Textiles Industry Has a Transparency Problem

The Materials Industry Has a Transparency Problem

For an industry with science at its core, the materials industry demonstrates remarkably little scientific transparency when communicating how their products are made. Textiles are marketed as ‘eco-friendly’, ‘vegan’, ‘plant-based’, ‘natural’, and ‘sustainable’, yet in many cases consumers are not given the information needed to genuinely understand what these materials are made from or what their true environmental impacts are. With an increasingly environmentally and ethically conscious market, transparency is more important than even before.

Greenwashing in green chemistry

A major example is the rise of “vegan leather” across the fashion and textile industries.

Vegan leather is frequently given an implicit environmental endorsement simply because it is animal-free. In reality, many vegan leathers are primarily made from polyurethane (PU) or PVC-coated textiles—essentially plastic-based materials marketed under more sustainable-sounding language. This can mislead consumers into assuming an overall environmental benefit, despite concerns around fossil-derived inputs, durability, disposal, and microplastic pollution. Even among newer ‘plant-based’ alternatives, many still rely heavily on synthetic fabrics, coatings, and backing materials to achieve acceptable durability and water resistance. This practice is one you have probably heard of before – greenwashing.

At the same time, traditional leather terminology can also mislead consumers. At the same time, traditional leather terminology can also mislead consumers. ‘Genuine leather’, often perceived as premium natural leather, is frequently split leather with the natural grain removed and replaced with synthetic polymer coatings and embossed finishes. Basically, animal leather plus the plastics.

Across the industry, the pattern is similar:

• sustainability claims without lifecycle data

• environmental marketing without full material disclosure

• “bio-based” claims without biodegradability

• recycled content claims without recyclability

• sustainability narratives without durability metrics

Sustainability is not just how something is made, but how it performs

Durability is sustainability, therefore a material cannot credibly claim sustainability if it prematurely fails, cracks, peels, hydrolyses, or becomes unusable after a short service life. We know this to be true as consumers – a pair of shoes that fall apart after a month of wear are not sustainable even if made from entirely environmentally friendly materials. Despite this, many materials companies provide little accessible information on abrasion resistance, flex performance, hydrolysis resistance, tensile strength, UV stability, repairability, or expected lifespan. This lack of transparency creates a market in which marketing language often travels faster than materials science, and that is fundamentally unfair to the environment and the consumer.

What we are doing differently

At Sapro-Tech, we believe the future of sustainable materials must be built on evidence, not buzzwords.

That means:

• transparent material composition

• openly available lifecycle assessment data

• measurable performance metrics

• honest discussion of trade-offs

• clear disclosure of synthetic content

• focus on durability, repairability, and circularity

• sustainability claims grounded in verifiable science

We know that no material is impact-free, and every material involves trade-offs. We also know that consumers, brands, and industries deserve the ability to make decisions based on transparent data rather than selective storytelling.

The future of sustainable materials will not be won by the best marketing. It will be won by the most honest science.