Deborah Taylor

Sustainable Leather Foundation heads to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region this May to train and equip local representatives with required tools to drive forward improvements in the leather value chain.

European trade body COTANCE has formed the Leather Traceability Cluster to align leather traceability schemes in a bid to reduce audit fatigue in tanneries and avoid unproductive costs for the leather value chain.

Blackwashed much, leather is standing up as a material which is irrefutably a by-product of food production and could well be a waste on a huge scale of a natural material which instead is turned into something useful for society.

The Leather Manifesto was a call to action not just for the COP27 delegates themselves, but for all in the space of sustainable materials production.  As a natural material that is long-lasting, can be repaired or repurposed and at end of life will biodegrade, leather needs to be part of wider discussions towards a circular economy. This industry will continue to push the point that it can be part of the climate solution.

As the leather industry grapples with the question of how it can sustainably play its part to meet ambitious climate and other targets set at a global scale, it is imperative that individual companies in the supply chain focus their efforts in a way that is highly localised to their specific circumstances.

Textile Exchange (TE) has accepted the official ISO 15115 definition of leather, and manufacturers, brands and retailers must make it incumbent on themselves to educate consumers the difference between genuine leather and faux leather, PU leather, mushroom leather, pineapple leather, or any other plant-based leather which cannot be categorised as 'leather'. So, what does industry think?

A 'Leather Manifesto' has exhorted the COP27 to recognise the cyclical, climate-efficient characteristics of leather and other natural fibres. It also urged the COP27 to understand the implications of the huge amounts of raw material of leather production, hides and skins, that are currently being thrown away.

The mission of the Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF) is to support the global leather industry to learn, to improve and to protect the planet for future generations. Towards this objective its latest offering is the Partner Profiles and QR Codes which link up the SLF and a company’s website, and the company’s Transparency Dashboard. In a brief conversation with texfash.com, Deborah Taylor, Managing Director at SLF elaborates on the initiatives.

'False innovation' exchanges one problem or impact for another, like the latest 'big news' funding for bio-leather created in lab conditions using the cells of a real cow. Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF) Managing Director Deborah Taylor calls on investors of the future and global brands to support real innovation that makes a valuable industry more sustainable instead of constantly undermining it.

The Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF) supports a whole value chain approach with focus on underpinning that communication with real data and metrics can demonstrate the work the industry is doing to ensure a sustainable future. SLF Managing Director Deborah Taylor elaborates on the mandate she has set for the not-for-profit foundation.