The leather industry needs to do a huge amount of work to become more sustainable. There are many companies/tanneries in the sector who are dishonest about their supply chain, traceability, and the source of their animal hides. Over the last few decades, the mass production of leather, combined with fast-fashion business models and the desire for ever-slimming margins have resulted in an industry that is massively damaging to the environment and its communities. Ever increasing consumer and shareholder demands have led to the over-use of chromium tanning, the exploitation of tannery workers and an increase in the mass-breeding of cattle and other animals for leather hides over meat. This ultimately lead to a continuous breach of proper farming practices, the depletion of surrounding eco-systems and the maltreatment of animals. It is a business model that focusses on short term, quick results and isn’t sustainable or ethical, with often irreparable damage as an outcome. However, there could be a solution to this. Over the last decade there has been a change in the way some tanneries are creating leather.

A handful of tanneries have changed their practices by only working with local or smaller scale farms that have high ethical farming standards and offer 100 percent traceability to the farm, sometimes even to the animal. In addition they are opting to produce less but much higher quality leather, reducing the amount of water and energy used and creating new and innovative ways to tan the hides. Instead of using chromium salts (which include Sodium Dichromate – a carcinogenic raw material that could cause damage to blood, kidneys, eyes heart and lungs in the process of using it) they opt for vegetable tannins made from by-products of the food industry, e.g. the roots of rhubarb or olive tree leaves. These methods are much kinder to the environment, creating leather with a much more successful biodegradability. The way this leather breaks down stands in stark contrast to chrome tanned leather, and especially ‘faux leather’ alternatives, which comprise plastic and polyurethane and taking hundreds of years to biodegrade.