Separation Technology to remove Polymer Coating and Contaminants from Leather

OVERVIEW

Wazoku, the Seeker for this Innocentive Scouting Challenge, is seeking to identify a novel separation technology for polymer contaminants and finishes from coated leather products, leather off-cuts and leather fibres; this relates to coated post-consumer and post-industrial leather waste from end-of-life products, such as car seats, aircraft interiors, cutting room floor waste and footwear.

The manufacturer’s goal is to achieve true circularity and meet net-zero goals by transitioning to processing coated post-consumer and post-industrial leather waste from end-of-life products.

This is a Scouting Challenge seeking a partner or supplier to provide systems and expertise to solve the manufacturer’s business challenge; the Solver is invited to submit a written proposal to be evaluated by Wazoku and finalists by the manufacturer with the goal of establishing a collaborative partnership and potential future funding.

Solvers with a viable proposed solution will be supported by Wazoku:

• With the potential to be invited to pitch their solution to the manufacturer
• Selected solutions will be trialled in collaboration with the manufacturer's R&D team state-of-the-art multi-million sqm annual capacity facility in the UK for pilot-scale testing and validation with potential for further adoption if trials are successful
• The potential to be deployed across two production sites in the UK
• Support in the development of a prototype or pilot, including material testing/analytics, process optimisation, and scale-up guidance
• A potential business collaboration; the manufacturer is willing to co-invest through their $3.5+ million annual R&D budget to support promising novel technology development
• Investor introductions (if investment is required)

In return, Wazoku will retain a share of 25% of any financial benefits you are paid through the process.

Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on December 31st, 2025.

Please review the later Participation Guidance section before submitting a proposal.
 

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ABOUT THE SEEKER

Wazoku is an innovation ecosystem platform encompassing AI, market intelligence, venture building, patent analysis and open talent networks. It centralises data, talent, and tools to make innovation measurable, impactful and able to solve pressing challenges.

Wazoku also operate Innocentive open innovation Challenges like this one, supporting the preeminent problem solver community who have delivered breakthrough results for organisations like NASA, the International Rescue Committee, and ExxonMobil.

THE CHALLENGE

Background

The manufacturer is a global leader in sustainable and circular textiles that processes 'wet blue' leather waste, which is uncoated chrome-tanned leather from manufacturing processes, through their proven production technology to create high-performance, clean and sustainable materials for automotive, aviation, and consumer markets. 

The manufacturer wants to achieve true circularity and meet Net Zero goals.

The Challenge

The automotive and airline industries alone generate millions of leather seats annually, which currently end up in landfills or are incinerated. Post-consumer leather waste from end-of-life products (such as car seats, aircraft interiors, and footwear) and cutting room floor leather wastes are coated with durable polymer layers (PU coatings, protective finishes, foams and adhesives).

The manufacturer could recycle this material into leather fibre repurposing this waste stream. However, when the material is mechanically processed, these polymer coatings can fragment and contaminate the leather fibres, making them less suitable for their production process.

The solution needs to be a separation technology to remove those polymers and other contaminants such as stitching, textile backing, adhesives, and small metallic particles from the post-consumer leather so that the challenge holder can recover clean leather fibre which can then go through their production technology to create high performance sustainable materials for a wide range of markets. 

The technology maturity level of the proposed solution should equate to TRL6, it should be possible for the technology to be demonstrated in the relevant environment.

The solution should be capable of removing coatings and other contaminants from waste sheets of leather, cutting room floor waste, end of life leather products such as seats and leather waste from deconstructed footwear. Some of these leathers may be in the form of offcuts whilst others are shredded. The coatings are generally around 20 microns thick, though they can be thicker depending on the application, but they remain under 150 microns.

SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS

The technology maturity level of the proposed solution should equate to TRL6, it should be possible for the technology to be demonstrated in the relevant environment.

The solution can be chemical or mechanical.

This should:

• Remove over 80% of contaminants at a pilot stage (aiming for 90% removal when at scale) including polymer coating, backing materials, threads from leather components, sheets or shredded leather. The coated leather pieces will be in a variety of different shapes and sizes, from 3-D shaped pieces to flat sheets to shredded fibres. Ideally the technology should be suited to handle these variety of forms. However, given that these raw materials are so different, it may be that the technology is only appropriate for a single type of coated leather. If this is the case, then please identify the raw material that the technology is best suited for
• Be solvent free
• Work at <100C as anything above this would damage the leather
• Produce an output that consists of separate leather pieces or individual leather fibres
• Where possible, create waste streams that can be valorised
• Suitable for installation in a modern textile production with limited utility connections other than those usually available in a textile facility
• The factory runs 24 hours over 5 days
• Capable of being UKCA/CE approved

Out of Scope
The solution must/should not:

• Produce leather mass or leather powder
• Increase damage to people and Environment
• Include technologies below TRL6
• Involve creation of dusts or microplastic
• Involve any explosion or fire risk

Cost Requirement
No specific cost requirement; this will be part of any follow-up exploratory discussion.

Applications will be assessed on: 

• Relevance to the defined challenge
• Benefit of implementation 
• Feasibility/economic viability 
• Innovative nature
• Ability to launch in line with expected timescales
• Credibility of applicant
• Coherence of the proposed business model 
• Development potential 
• Maturity of the solution 

YOUR SUBMISSION

Please log in and register your interest to complete the submission form.

The submitted proposals must be written in English and include:

1. Participation type – you will first be asked to inform us how you are participating in this challenge, as a Solver (Individual) or Solver (Organization).
2. Idea Summary - Please identify your technology and its advantages for the potential solution to the challenge (Keep this summary under 300 words. Below, you can also upload up to 3 supporting documents - PDF, Word, PowerPoint and images (jpg and png), Max 10MB per file).
3. Technology Readiness - Please select which TRL (Technology Readiness Level) your technology is currently at.
4. Describe your technology readiness level (Keep the description under 300 words).
5. Intellectual Property - Describe your intellectual property (IP) status. Have you, or do you intend to, protect IP status associated with your technology? Please identify the IP status for any supporting technology. (Keep the description under 300 words).

PARTICIPATION GUIDANCE

1. Submission Close Date: Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on December 31st, 2025.
2. Late submissions: Late submissions will not be considered.
3. Multiple submissions, 3 Maximum: In case of multiple submissions by the same Solver, only 3 submissions – the final 3 submitted – will be considered. Any other submissions will be deleted prior to evaluation.
4. Submission form and attachments: Your submission will first be evaluated by Wazoku and finalists by the manufacturer’s evaluation team, first reviewing the information and content you have submitted at the submission form, with attachments used as additional context to your form submission. Submissions relying solely on attachments will receive less attention.
5. Evaluation notification steps: After the Challenge submission close date, Wazoku will review and select the solutions it will propose and position with the manufacturer, according to the timeline in the Challenge header. Everyone who submits a proposal will be notified about the status of their submissions.
6. Use of AI: Please note that any submissions produced solely with generative AI are not of interest.
7. Learn more: Find out more about participation in Innocentive Challenges.