Vérabuccia
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Project Description
You will think you are touching a soft and durable animal leather, while you will only touch a material made of peel, this is Vérabuccia. We create the first Made in Italy material truly pineapple peel, hence the name Ananasse, a material that reuses the waste peel that constantly originates from the processing of the fruit. Thanks to an innovative production process (patented), the peel becomes a sturdy and rot-proof flexible sheet, which can be pierced, sewn and colored.
Geographical Scope
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Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
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Description of the project
Summary
Vérabuccia is the name created to identify a new types of experimental materials, which do not fall into either the category of fabric or that of animal leather. Vérabuccia was born in January 2020 with the advent of the new vegetable "leathers", of an increasingly circular economy but above all from the material intuition of Francesca Nori (end of 2017) continued with the feasibility study of the following years (2018-19) together with an Italian chemical company, which then made it possible to produce the first material in the world true pineapple peel, hence the name Ananasse. The material start from the peel of the pineapple to obtain following the process (patented), a flexible, robust and rot-proof material, with a scaly surface, similar to that of a reptile. Vérabuccia is the result of Italian visionary and creative talent combined with the desire to develop a project made of innovation, beauty, circular economy, sustainability and based on the enhancement of waste that becomes a resource.To date it consists of only two members; the creative designer and researcher and the designer and specialized civil engineer technician, in constant contact with external professionals in the sector, who support and guide the team in those parts not of their specific competence, who support and guide the team even in those parts not of their specific competence. To the question that Francesca Nori asked herself in 2017, or whether fruit waste could actually be seen as a precious material to be exploited rather than as a worthless residue, Vérabuccia began to answer starting from Italy and recovering the peel of those unsold pineapple fruits due to their advanced state of degradation or for their appearance not in line with sales requirements as well as reusing the waste of the peel that originates from companies in the Ho.Re.Ca. sector, with the aim of being able to grow and reach recover those that are constantly discarded by the industrial plants of fruit processing.
Key objectives for sustainability
Vérabuccia's key sustainability objective is the circularity that goes from the material used to all production processes. In the case of the pineapple fruit, the production is estimated at approx. 24.8 million tons where only 60% is used. Almost 10 million tons left on the ground to rot every year while fruit farms import low-cost products rather than support local ones, at the same time its processing generates constant waste to be disposed of, including the peel. In Italy, with an average import of about 130 thousand tons per year, it is surprisingly the second most consumed exotic fruit with a widespread processing for "ready to eat" products and an upcoming cultivation in areas such as Sicily and the Amalfi Coast.
The production of the Ananasse material comes from the recovery of the peel that originates mainly from the processing of the fruit for IV and V range products, the discarded peel is recovered and relocated in a production scenario even before it becomes a waste to be disposed of, saving the environment a residue and noxious gas emissions caused by the natural fermentation process.
The raw material used therefore does not require the breeding of animals and any consumption of new soil and does not generate waste as well as preferring in its process the use of organic substances, many of which are made with production waste from other supply chains (such as food). Waste substances that are reprocessed by some chemical companies and returned to the market for reuse. Vérabuccia is able to significantly optimize resources and waste, bringing waste to almost zero.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The Vérabuccia project is carried out through an innovative and circular production process that allows the waste peel of a fruit to be reused in its entirety as a raw material, for another sector. The process, consisting of two large processing phases which are in turn branched into smaller processes, follows the drying phases and the possible coloring or joining phase of the material. Through the investment in research and development, the final material obtained was able to acquire, while maintaining the aesthetic texture of the peel, new physical-mechanical capabilities, stability, durability over time…etc in order to use it as a material in another sector, prerogatives not present on a waste peel in nature and that on the contrary, with the passage of time activated by the presence of oxygen, a natural process of decomposition would begin. Starting from the enhancement of one of the pineapple fruit waste and imagining a new economy, the first Vérabuccia material produced is called Ananasse, a new material alternative, destined for fashion & design brands and comparable in terms of tactile sensation and performance to the animal leather of a reptile, but which unlike traditional leather has better social, ethical and environmental costs as a visibly distinguishable character of uniqueness.
Its use does not require doubling or support with other materials except for a purely aesthetic choice, the dimensions are similar to the peel in nature re-used but the possibility of joining several pieces together allows you to create a large and uniform "leather" of peel, with variable dimensions in relation to the final use. The different processes that can be carried out on its surface allow to further diversify of the original appearance of the pineapple peel epidermis and originate different chromatic and texture effects.
Key objectives for inclusion
One of Vérabuccia's key objectives is to make the fashion and design sector concretely more sustainable without sacrificing the aesthetic and tactile component. New sustainable materials are too often perceived as a passing seasonal trend as well as aesthetically ugly and unpleasant. Vérabuccia aims to bring new sustainable and circular materials as a value that wants to remain over time, materials that demonstrate greater attention to the conservation of the environment and living beings, without renouncing the aesthetic component and tactile pleasure. This is the key to helping society to marry the values of a low-carbon circular economy, contributing to progress and definitively clearing the habitual conventionality of new materials that must necessarily be copies of the already existing ones, in order to be accepted in the system and used stably. New materials often influence new ways of designing, manufacturing, and even living, generating a great impact on society. (Drazin & Küchler, 2015).
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
The idea of Vérabuccia combines sustainability, functionality and aesthetics together. The circularity of the production process proposes new methods of creating the material opening up to new production systems, as demonstrated by the first material of Vérabuccia, Ananasse, which does not use new natural resources but recovers waste.
The recovery of the waste intended as a material not to be incorporated together with another, but to be totally enhanced, allows to have a natural starting base on which to work in order to make the waste (the peel) acquire the characteristics for the application. as a material, without the addition of substances or plastic supporting materials and at the same time exploiting the texture, the natural pattern of the surface of the peel. Thus opening up to a new aesthetic that definitively clears the concept for which sustainability does not go hand in hand with aesthetics and functionality. If in the past, materials were chosen basically for their technical properties and physical characteristics, in the present, in addition to these, there are also experiential prerogatives, that is, those that the user experiences when he comes into contact with the material.
