How Sustainable Leather Products Can Help Save the World
Environmental and social impact has become increasingly crucial in practices and processes around leather.
It’s time to review your supply chain and implement new sustainable leather best practice solutions.
Introduction
Leather is a multibillion-dollar global industry. It’s increasing, but that also means concerns about how it’s produced and how the process affects animal rights.
Higg Materials, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s leather impact score, ranks high compared to cotton and polyester due to its high contribution to global warming, water use and pollution.
For ethical and environmental reasons, many consumers are choosing animal-free products. These products have already seen a dramatic increase in consumer and brand interest, which will continue to rise.
Leather can be an attractive natural and biodegradable material with a long history of tradition, craft and luxury. Its durability and repairability mean it can last several lifetimes if cared for correctly.
Importantly, so long as the meat industry exists, the use of leather as a by-product in leather tanning is both wasteful, and the tanneries are saving millions of hides globally from landfill or incineration every year.
Leather’s impact on the environment is getting less harmful by the day, as companies invest heavily in innovations and practices to lower the impact of leather production, from safe tanning chemistry and water efficiency to traceable supply chains, zero-waste initiatives, and looking ahead to regenerative farming that could vastly improve leather’s C02 footprint.
This article examines a few ways the leather industry could move into a more sustainable position and includes case studies of successful practices.
Responsible leather sourcing
Different types of leather need to be sourced depending on their use and the level of complexity involved. Brands need to weigh the environmental and social implications of their leather sourcing.
Brands that want to keep their Amazonian brands should take a tough stance when the time comes, as seen with the brands H&M and VFC brands Vans and Timberland. These brands suspended hide orders from farms linked to deforestation of The Amazon, as Brazil’s devastating fires were cited as caused by intentional land clearing.
Much leather comes from areas where raising livestock is culturally significant and an economic necessity.
Leather work is an integral part of the leather-making trade in some parts of the world, providing an income to leather workers. Equitable Fairtrade initiatives can help reduce poverty and support those regions’ communities.
People are becoming more aware of the environmental impact of using animal products and are increasingly looking for alternatives.
How to action this: take full accountability for leather’s impacts.
Veja uses leather from Brazilian organic farms where livestock is treated humanely. This leather is sourced from sustainable farms.
Check the Leather Working Group’s website for details of how leather is produced. Work with suppliers credited by initiatives such as the AWG’s The Animal Welfare Group and Textiles Exchange’s Responsible Leather Round Table.
Traceable supply chains
For the leather to be more sustainable, it must be traced through the supply chain. To do this, the LWG is working with other organizations. They have formed a Traceability Working Group and aim to link sustainability with their rating system.
Who is making progress in traceable leather? Tannery ISA TanTec is expanding its LITE (Low Impact to the Environment) Sourcing Program with Greener Pastures Collection, fully tracing hides back to farms or ranches via a chain of custody documentation.
Leading tannery, PrimeAsia Leather, has launched a new responsibly raised program for 2020. The program builds on its longstanding commitment to transparency in the leather sector and will focus on bringing out the high-end tanneries that have been missing from the market.
Local suppliers can provide you with the opportunity to build a local supply chain. German-based Traceable Leather, a family-run manufacturing company, builds and manages certified organic livestock, kid and goat skin supply chains, supplying hides, leather and finished goods to nearby brands, including Leit & Held.
To Action to this: Tracing tools will accelerate progress.
A luxury brand, Josefifin, has started applying DNA tagging systems CertainT to its products. They’ve already implemented DNA tags in a large tannery in China and have successfully traced their ethically sourced leather goods back to their origin.
Regenerative farming
As consumers demand more sustainable leather products, brands are looking to raise their livestock in more regenerative environments and reduce the impact of their leather products.
Pros and Cons: the ancient practice helps to protect endangered wildlife, aids biodiversity and restores soil into a carbon sink. It also helps to keep our planet in balance.
It still has a long way to go before organic farming can provide a viable alternative to conventional large-scale agriculture. Farmers must acquire knowledge and skills in this area.
In 2020, Timberland planned to source 100 per cent of its leather from regenerative supply chains within this decade and is already sourcing from ranches in the US, Australia and Brazil.
One of the most important things for a ranch is to be well managed and taken care of. As founder of the Savory Institute’s Land to the Market initiative, it is working with the USDA to establish Ecological Outcome Verification, or EOV, as a standard for ranches.
Earthkeepers will be the first product released from the Earthkeepers line this year. They are going to be a pair of boots made in regenerative leather. We are a social enterprise that is making a big difference to society. We help disadvantaged people across the UK, and we employ people who are disabled.
Kering, a French luxury group and the world’s leading environmental organization, Conservation International, just launched the Regenerative Fund for Nature. This new venture will attempt to turn one million hectares of farmland over to restorative land over the next five years.
To Action to this: see regenerative organic agriculture as a goal and look at the Regenerative Organic Alliance’s ROC certification for criteria needed.
The tanning process
Consumers are becoming more aware of the toxic chemicals in tanning and demanding to know where their leather is from.
Leather tanning is the process that gives the leather its beautiful brownish colour. It’s by far the most common tanning method used today.
Synthetic tanning chemicals began to displace the vegetable-based tanning process in the 1800s, and it accelerated due to the development of synthetic dye.
The most widely used solvents are made from metals like Chrome and iron.
Hydride tanning does have some toxicity issues, but it’s used when you want a healthy-looking tan without the harmful side effects of chrome-based tan.
Vegetable tanning is a natural alternative to the toxic process of traditional tanning using chemical compounds. It can also be more environmentally friendly.
It is a significant part of the leather market and is famous for luxury accessory brands, luggage and saddlery.
EuroFins| BLC Leather Technology Centre commissioned LCA expert Ecobilan to audit chrome, aldehyde and veg tanning. When managed correctly, all had unique pros and cons, and chromium was the most environmentally persistent in a product’s end-of-life management.
Tanning: Chrome- and metal-free
Chrome tanning is going away as consumers look for more sustainable leather options. Manufacturers are working hard to produce leather without Chrome or other toxins.
The pros of using chrome tan include: it’s relatively cheap compared to other self-tan products, is shipped to you quickly, and achieves even colour.
However, chromium (and other metals) can be toxic.
Chromium is arguably safe, but chrome-free and metal-free alternatives are being developed to counteract this. Q: Can’t log in to my site after a few days – “An error occurred while processing this request.
Many people in the FOC (free of Chrome)leather industry and H&M and Luxury Group Kering aim to make it all chrome-free by 2025.
The partnership with Italian tannery Fresco Pelli, which produces Me-Free leather, will allow the company to offer a natural leather alternative that will be safe for the environment and sustainable.
The launch of Zoology, an innovative plug-and-play tanning system that uses renewable mineral Zeolite to give leather its white colour took place in 2020.
Other Chrome-Free Adopters Include Chlorine Technologies, C&A, Atelier, and Veja.
To Action to this: Work with tanneries connected to the Chrome Free Leather Alliance, which advocates and educates on using 100% vegetable-tanned leather.
Tanning: vegetable tanning
Vegetable tanning will become a more common practice shortly as the demand for natural, eco-friendly alternatives grows.
The tannin extracts from bark, berries, roots and leaves colour and is preserved in the hides that are then soaked in tanning liquor over weeks.
The pros and cons: it has its fans, a unique aroma and a rich, attractive patina that darkens over time due to light, moisture and oils.
Leather is a safe way to tan animal hides. It also makes less harmful waste than chrome tanning. Tanning processes are long, use lots of plant tannins, and have high water usage because you need so many baths. The colour of the cover isn’t as consistent as chromed leather, but it doesn’t stain easily and is water friendly.
Who’s doing it? Examples include Deepmello’s Rhubarb Leather, tanned with rhubarb roots from the German leather processing plant; Wet-Green’s Cradle to Cradle Gold-certified Olive Leder, tanned with olive leaves, which gives the leather a softer, more supple feel.
Other producers include Wickett & Craig, Ecopell 2000 and Conceria Dingo.
To Action to this: The best tanneries for you will depend on the type of leather product you want to make, the end product you’re going for, and the type of tannery that suits your needs and preferences.
Tanning: Water-Efficient.
The leather industry is highly water-intensive, using it for animal-raising, tanning, and finishing.
With the increased need to conserve water in the arid climate of India, tanneries have started reusing effluent and water. This is done by treating effluent and water to make them fit for use in new applications.
The best leading water-efficient leather is…
Footwear brand and leather supplier Ecco launched its new DriTan technology this year, using moisture found in cowhide to preserve it, and save up to 250,000 litres of water annually. This saves more than 20 litres of water per hiding and reduces waste by 600 tonnes of sludge to the landfill.
Drinan is a new technology that’s been taken up by several fashion and lifestyle brands, including Bellroy, a company based in Australia. Drinan offers the benefits of leather but doesn’t have the usual drawbacks.
Cariuma’s leather uppers are made with organic cotton canvas. Their uppers adhere to strict ISO standards, with 100% water used in the process reused and treated and no chemical waste.
And Clarks is working with ISA TanTec, a tannery that helps to reduce water usage in their footwear.
To Action to this: Partner with tanneries that invest in water-saving, filtration, and recycling, to save scarce H2O resources.
Finishing and proofing
Leather is a natural, biodegradable material, so the finished product should be assessed for its environmental impact. This will include any added colour, texture and functionality that will affect the product’s ability to safely and efficiently biodegrade and recycle.
Many types of base, ground and top coats are toxic, so look for low-impact, water-based and solvent-free types.
Organic and inorganic pigments are used in dye and coatings.
Chemical dyes are a step up from organic dyes in most ways. They are even, lightfast, and more stable than organic dyes.
There are several types of leather, including synthetics. Leather is long-lasting but is vulnerable to chemicals that fade the leather and cause it to wear.
The only real issue with using plant-based waxes to create a veg tan is that they’re not as durable.
Consider the implications of chemical impacts on waste reduction. Embossing may be used to elevate lower grades of leather to mitigate wastage, but the applied films can impact future recycling.
To Action to this: You don’t have to worry about whether dyes or finishes comply with chemical standards.
As part of its commitment to reducing the harmful effects of leather manufacturing, the Leather Working Group recently granted members of the Leather Working Group (LWG) free access to its Manufacturing Restricted Substances List.
Zero waste: creating goods from scrap
Recycled leather is a good thing. Buying hides from the meat industry means the leather will go to landfills or incineration rather than being used for other products.
The volume of hides, skins and offcuts of leather is vast, with over 24 billion square meters being produced annually, with almost 16% ending up as scrap or offcuts.
Innovative companies are finding uses for this waste stream, buying it to upcycle into small leather goods.
You’ll love this zero-waste approach to luxury and craft, tapping into a new way to experience high-end products.
Who is using up remnants:
Far From Lost uses remnants from the belt manufacturing process to
make sustainable leather wallets and card holders. They source from one of the
largest belt manufacturers in the United States, who supply some of the most
luxury brands.
In Europe, Burberry teamed up with material recycler Elvis & Kresse in 2017 to recycle leather waste into accessories and homeware. They used a cutting-edge interlocking technique to turn leather into any size or shape.
Anya Hindmarch’s unique patchwork bags are handmade from leather scraps, and the deadstock boots by Ssônne marry sustainability and design.
To Action to this: When you take the time to upcycle leather offcuts, you’ll have fun crafting new and exciting leather items that are unique and zero-waste.
Zero waste: recycled leather
Supply-chain leather scraps are also used to make composite leather. For example, Nike’s Flyleather shoes use 30% of its factory waste to make their shoes.
Pros and Cons: Recycled leather is an excellent material for several projects. Scraps used for leather come from factories where old leather is scraped.
This product is durable, looks and feels like leather, and it’s cheaper than standard leather.
On the other hand, this material can be easily recycled into new materials.
Who’s innovating this?
Materials Innovator Recyc Leather has developed a unique material called Recycled Latex used in everything from fashion to home products.
It’s waterproof, durable, scratch resistant, and is used by leather goods brands such as Opus Mind and Paperthinks.
Sustainable Composites LLC, a Pennsylvania start-up, has Enspire Leather, a recycled material that claims to have a look, feel, and even smell of leather.
Leather scraps are cut to the exact size of the press. They’re then pressed in a hot and airy environment to prevent defects in the final product.
There are other new sneaker brands following Nike in using recycled leather. OTH’s Gravière sneakers and the reworked Royale laces are made from recycled factory waste and used fabrics.
To Action to this: You can avoid wasting leather scraps in your supply chain by turning them into new leather. This guide will show you how.
Choose materials certified by the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) and Global Recycled Standard (GRS.
Post-purchase repair and refurbishment
An extended use-by date can cut your carbon emissions in half.
Leather goods are durable and well-loved by consumers. By adding extra care and aftercare for these products, consumers may appreciate them longer, bringing in more revenue.
Who’s doing it? Department stores are extending their expertise in service and repair after you’ve purchased something, offering tailored repair for shoes, bags and leather goods.
Selfridges, Harvey N Nichols, and Harrods have all given The Restoration a floor space, a leading leather goods design studio.
The skilled artisans in the London atelier work diligently repairing worn, scratched, torn and stained leather and linings, repairing or replacing trim and soles and re-dyeing to order back.
Other UK specialists include The Leather Repair Company and Bag Spa, and of note are Evans in Australia and New York’s Leather Surgeons.
Some luxury brands offer free leather repairs if you purchase from authorized stores within a stipulated time. These include Chanel, Celine, Mulberry and Marc Jacobs.
Footwear brands offer a new way of repairing damaged shoes to make customers feel better and be kinder to the environment.
To act to this: small brands can benefit by joining up to create pre-competitive repair services. Aftercare is one of the easiest ways to improve customer retention, increase overall sales and reduce your company’s environmental impact.
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