Case study · Automotive · Argentina

The upholstery had more than one story to tell.

Suede, textile, leather and felt arrive together in Peugeot’s automotive upholstery. Sorted by what each material does best, the mix returned as nine products that could not be made the same way with new cloth.

3,360 m²Upholstery recovered

4Materials in the mix

7People in the process

9Product types

01 · Challenge

Not one material: four, arriving mixed.

Automotive upholstery is not a fabric. It is suede, textile, leather and felt, each with its own texture, behaviour and combination, arriving together and in volume.

That mixture is what makes it hard to work with, and it is also what makes the output impossible to imitate with new material.

Peugeot's operations in Argentina are run by Stellantis, whose El Palomar plant employs between 2,300 and 2,500 direct workers.

02 · Strategy

Sort by behaviour, not by colour.

Peugeot invested in transforming the material rather than paying for its disposal, putting the budget into craftsmanship, durability and a product with genuine material value.

01 · RECOVER

Take the whole stream

More than 3,360 m² recovered, mixed as it comes off the line.

02 · REDESIGN

Nine products, not one

Leather does what felt cannot; suede does what textile cannot. Nine product types is what a mixed stream can honestly support.

03 · REPORT

It is not just about metrics

It is about changing the story of the material and the people behind it: the systems, design thinking and manufacturing capacity that give a mixed stream a second chance.

03 · Process

Sorted by behaviour, cut into nine.

It is not about hiding the material or recycling it until it becomes unrecognisable. The material is the value. With creativity, innovation and a trained eye, what others see as waste can be recognised for what it still has to offer, then redesigned around a new purpose without losing the story of where it came from.

Sewing upholstery at the social workshop

Weekender bag made from car-seat upholstery

04 · Evidence

Making Impact Traceable, Transparent & Verifiable.

More than 3,360 m² of automotive upholstery recovered and transformed into nine documented product types.

The figures in this case are checked and the record is managed by REZET Hub.

Taken as the stream comes

More than 3,360 m² of upholstery collected mixed, as it leaves the line, instead of asking the plant to pre-sort what it cannot pre-sort.

Separated by behaviour, not colour

Suede, textile, leather and felt each handled by what it withstands, which is the step that turns a mixed stream from a problem into a range.

Nine products the mix can honestly support

Leather does what felt cannot; suede does what textile cannot. The catalogue is derived from the material, and that is why it cannot be imitated with new cloth.

Reported by material, not by total

Output reconciled against the recorded intake, so a complex stream stays auditable instead of collapsing into one convenient figure.

Behind each of these figures there are families. The people who cut and sew in these workshops are not a line in our metrics: they are heads of family who have come through hard circumstances, and paid, skilled work is what lets them be the ones who provide.

05 · Outcome

From the production line to nine products with a story.

More than 3,360 m² of upholstery waste — suede, textiles, leather and felt — became tote bags, handbags, phone bags, mini bags, weekender bags, backpacks, pouches and notebook sleeves. Not easy to work with, and full of possibility. Made by 7 people in social impact workshops.

Why repurpose

If you are going to spend money, spend it well.

Be smart about where you put your budget. Instead of buying the same merch everyone replicates, invest in merch with a true impact story.
And instead of taking the easy, often costly route of recycling by destroying the material, repurpose it. Preserve its value. Give it a second chance.