A synthetic leather producer in Lishui, East China's Zhejiang province, has developed the Zhazhage, an innovative synthetic leather regenerated from coffee grounds through water-based synthesis technology.

Made by combining coffee grounds with natural polymers, the novel synthetic leather can be regarded as a whole-process pollution-free product. The environmentally friendly fabric was developed by Zhejiang Jiake New Material Technology Co last year to replace its petroleum-based PU (polyurethane) synthetic leather.

The Zhazhage has been included in the nation's 2022 Green Manufacturing list, which was released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in March.

"We use natural polymers like natural latex, algal gum, and pectin, and household residues such as coffee grounds and sugarcane bagasse to reduce the consumption of non-renewable petroleum materials," said Zheng Sixian, the general manager of the company.

According to Zheng, the grounds are purchased from coffee enterprises at a low price. As such, raw materials costs are not high. Most expenses are on technological research and development.

Zheng added that his company had in 2022 invested 10 percent of its revenue into innovative material research and development. In addition, a new water-based synthetic leather product like the Zhazhage is developed every six months.