PETA praises Jaguar Land Rover, Ford for their biomaterial innovations

In Virginia, animal rights non-profit PETA says car manufacturers are increasingly enabling consumers to swap leather interiors for biomaterial substitutes in elements such as seats, steering wheels, and gear shifts.

Cruelty-free options include Kvadrat textiles, which is made from recycled plastic bottles, available for the seat upholstery in Jaguar Land Rover’s Range Rover Evoque. JLR also offers the Eucalyptus Melange textile, which is made from natural fibers that require less water than traditional materials to produce. JLR also claims to use more than 16 kg of recycled material in each Evoque.

Ford Motor Company, which launched soybean-based seat cushions, seat backs, and head rests in many vehicles eight years ago, has also incorporated materials based on soy, wheat, rice, castor, hibiscus, tree cellulose, jute and coconut.