Eagle Ottawa - Leading the Way With Green Design and Increased Driver Comfort

At the "Transforming the Automotive Leather Industry" media preview in Warren, Mich., Eagle Ottawa demonstrated how they create the most inspired automotive leather interiors in the industry, while leading the way toward environmentally-friendly Green Design and consumer comfort.

Leather is naturally 'green' -- more than petroleum derivative synthetics. "A byproduct of the beef industry, recycled hides would otherwise go into landfills," said Jerry Sumpter, Eagle Ottawa President and CEO. "It's the ultimate recycled product."

"Our responsibility is to keep our planet cleaner and safer," said Sumpter. "We design our products with waste-management in mind, complying with world initiatives while constantly looking for innovations to reduce and recycle waste."

Results of Eagle Ottawa's Green Design are numerous "firsts." They were the first automotive leather supplier in North America to implement two landmark innovations: water-based finishing systems and "chrome free" automotive leather. In 2007 they supplied 1-million non-chrome hides for 600,000 vehicles. This organically-tanned leather is 100-percent biodegradable.

For the future, Eagle Ottawa is developing new uses for in-process leather shavings and scraps that will result in a leather product for many interior applications.

Eagle Ottawa's consistent global environmental policy -- and management system to implement its initiatives and practice -- meets the ISO-14001 environmental management standard.

These efforts have earned the company numerous government and industry awards, and the reputation as the most environmentally-friendly automotive-leather supplier.

"Our goal is to continually produce products that are safer for the planet," said Grady Gunesch, Director of Safety, Health and Environment.

Eagle Ottawa is also working on developing products that are more functional and comfortable for consumers, including advanced premium furniture-feel Opus leather, cleanable leather, heat-stabilized leather for component wrapping, environmental low VOC leather and solar-reflective leather, which stays cooler in hot temperatures.

"Our dual-purpose performance leathers are fully developed for automotive applications," said Nathan Mullinix, Vice President of Research and Development. "Consumers demand styling with automotive performance. These specialty products respond to market demands.

Our perforated leather provides added comfort by increasing airflow in standard and climate-controlled seating systems. "What's new is our ability to perforate in custom or non-traditional patterns," said Mullinix. "Any design can be perforated, so we're adding fashion and character to the functionality of leather."