Leather is one of the most utilized materials through out the history of human kind. However leather waste is discarded in the environment (municipal landfills) with no care whatsoever, turning these landfills through time into huge sources of chrome pollution. The objective of this work is to demonstrate that the composites formulated with treated leather fibers and used as filling in a polymeric matrix may be utilized in some applications as substitutes of leather. These materials are suitable for making products that usually are made of leather (shoe heels, bags, insoles, etc). However, they can be used as materials for hospital equipments that may be advantageous from the economical point of view. On the other hand, application of this type of materials may reduce the environmental pollution, which is beneficial for the human health.
Two basic types of matrixes were considered due to their commercial and scientific importance: PMMA and PVC. These matrixes were reinforced by the following fibers: non modified leather short fibers, silanos leather short fibers and PMMA grafted leather short fibers. The mechanical properties of these different materials were determined. These properties are of fundamental importance for their potential applications.

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