Leather is a by-product from bio industry. When processed for use in luxury car interiors, 40 per cent of each hide ends up as scraps. Developing "bio" plastics from leather leftovers is a way to address the use of animals as raw materials.
Together with Simone de Waart, Simone Post and Natascha van der Velden, Michelle researched the possibilities for using leather scraps from car manufacturing industry. To let a beautiful natural material with animal origin go to waste, would simply be wro