Hide and Seek: US Leather Industry Has Found a New Voice

The Leather & Hide Council of America (L&HCA) — a new voice has emerged for the leather industry in the US and around the world. Stephen M. Sothmann, the L&HCA President, talks about the agenda set as he seeks to promote the quality of US-sourced products, establish and promote best practices in leather production, and set new international standards in sustainability and traceability, and to promote those values to stakeholders around the world.

Long Story, Cut Short
  • L&HCA seeks to assist and support industry-wide efforts to improve hide and leather production both in the US and around the world.
  • Launched a hide & skin traceability programme for US companies that provides the framework for enhanced traceability along the supply chain.
  • Leather, along with other natural materials like wool, cotton, and others, will need to fill the materials gap that will be left as we reduce reliance on plastics and other fossil-fuel based materials in fashion.
The L&HCA seeks to promote leather as a material, championing its sustainable credentials. The US leather & hide sector, including meat packers, hide processors, leather tanners, leather products manufacturers, brokers and dealers, and chemical producers, employs over 5,000 people and is worth some nearly $1 billion per annum. Truly international in scope, it exports several billion dollars worth of material every year, including more than 33 million hides that would otherwise be designated as waste.
Hide Away The L&HCA seeks to promote leather as a material, championing its sustainable credentials. The US leather & hide sector, including meat packers, hide processors, leather tanners, leather products manufacturers, brokers and dealers, and chemical producers, employs over 5,000 people and is worth some nearly $1 billion per annum. Truly international in scope, it exports several billion dollars worth of material every year, including more than 33 million hides that would otherwise be designated as waste. Exports account for more than 90 per cent of US leather and hide production making it one of the top materials suppliers to the global leather manufacturing industry. Harsh Jadav / Unsplash

A trade body, the L&HCA represents the interests of more than 70 large and small member companies, ranging from leather tanners and finished leather goods producers to the meat packers and hide processors at the back end. 

The Leather & Hide Council of America was established only recently in 2020. What was the need to join forces? We don't often see industry organisations merging. Surely there was some very pressing reason?
The predecessor organisations to the L&HCA had a long and storied history, going all the way back to 1919. However, in the last decade or two, we’ve seen a substantial amount of industry consolidation and integration. Whereas there used to be a stark difference between the ‘hides and skins’ sector of the industry versus the ‘tanning’ sector, which necessitated two different industry organisations to properly represent their respective interests, in today’s industry the lines are much more blurred. Many companies now operate in many different sectors of the supply chain, and the old differences between sectors are not nearly as stark. Furthermore, the most pressing challenges faced by the industry are largely shared up and down the supply chain – chemical and environmental sustainability, challenges from plastic synthetics, misinformation about leather, etc. Therefore, the two predecessor organisations decided it would be best to combine resources and efforts to address these shared existential threats to the industry, rather than continue to try and fight them alone.

Though it is only two years, how has your organisation developed in these two years of the pandemic? If you were to list out your achievements, what would those be?
The merger of the two organisations has certainly been a challenge in its own right, and adding a global pandemic to the mix has certainly not made it any easier. That said, I believe we have achieved quite a lot in the first 2+ years as a combined organisation. Specifically, we have launched a consumer-facing leather education and promotion initiative (www.chooserealleather.com) that continues to see a dedicated and passionate following. We have engaged in the sustainability discussion in a strong and meaningful way, ensuring the leather industry’s views are heard and represented in some of the most important forum of today. We have also taken an active leadership role in the global industry, helping to galvanise support for mutually beneficial efforts the world over. It has been a busy two years and is setting a strong foundation for future efforts.

Your website mentions: "We also lead the way working to establish and promote best practice in leather production." Could you elaborate on this? What are the main best practices that you are promoting? And, in what ways are you doing this?
L&HCA and its predecessor organisations have been highly active in the space of industry best practice and guidance for many decades. The hides and skins industry in the US benefits from a uniform set of product standards called the ‘Standards Governing the Sale of North American Cattle Hides’ that has been published by the association for decades. We have furthermore launched a hide and skin traceability programme for US companies that provides the framework for enhanced traceability along the supply chain. Through our Leather Research Laboratory at the University of Cincinnati we provide the consulting and testing services necessary to ensure our member companies are using the latest technology and practices to ensure they are producing safe, beautiful and sustainable leather products. Finally, through our partnerships with industry actors such as the Leather Working Group, Sustainable Leather Foundation, and World Wildlife Fund, we seek to assist and support industry-wide efforts to further improve hide and leather production both in the US and around the world.

Many industries currently have an addiction to cheap fossil fuels, such as the footwear and fashion industries, and it is important that we as a society begin to ween those industries off of those unsustainable materials and move them towards natural and circular materials.

Stephen M Sothmann
President
Leather & Hide Council of America
Stephen M Sothmann

Could you tell us more about the The L&HCA Hide and Skin Traceability Program? How is it working out on the ground? How do you ensure transparency in the entire process, since traceability is all about transparency?
The Traceability Program was launched in early 2020 in partnership with the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to provide companies with the tools and framework they need to build traceability systems into their everyday production decisions. Under the programme, US companies prove to an independent auditor (USDA AMS inspectors) that they have the systems and information structures in place to accurately trace hides and skins back to a certain point in the supply chain. Transparency is ensured via the third party audit from the US government agency.

The programme was built in such a way that all US companies, regardless of where they operate on the hide and skin production supply chain, can participate. The programme’s early targets were the regional hide collectors and processors, who collect hides and skins from dozens of regional meatpacking plants and local butchers and prepare them for leather tanning utilisation. For those companies, traceability can be particularly difficult due to the large number of facilities they may be sourcing hides from. For them, the programme has been a successful first step into incorporating and improving traceability into their everyday operations.

While we continue to enroll new US companies in the programme, we are also working to upgrade its mechanisms in the near future and align it with broad industry standards around traceability.

What about standards and guidelines in chemical usage as well as energy consumption? Can you give an estimate about the quantity of chemicals being used? More important, overall chemical standards are getting refined even as we speak. What are you doing to stay ahead of developments?
The vast majority of our members participate in industry initiatives that focus on chemical use and energy consumption, such as the Leather Working Group. These industry initiatives provide the standards and guidelines for industry best practice in this space, and are strongly supported by the L&HCA and its members.

What is the association with the Leather Research Laboratory at the University of Cincinnati? How involved is the UHCA in research activities?  Is the research more on material innovation and production, or are you also researching consumer behaviour?
The L&HCA (and an associated Research Foundation) has supported the efforts of the Leather Research Lab at the University of Cincinnati since 1924. We are related entities under the same organisational umbrella. The Lab is actively involved in material research, consulting, and testing for the industry, often on a one-on-one basis, as well as educational efforts both in the University setting and among the industry writ large. The Lab’s research efforts are primarily in the technical leather material space, rather than in consumer behaviour. Periodically, the Lab’s scientists will submit papers to scientific journals about new or evolving leather research and materials topics.

The UHCA had joined other leather industry groups during COP26 in giving a call to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. What was the reaction to your call? Do you think that the world is still heavily invested in fossil fuels: from plastics to polyester?
The COP26 effort by the global leather industry was a great example of what the broader industry can achieve when working towards common goals. The reaction was largely positive to the industry’s outreach efforts, which focused on the role natural materials can play in a future economy that is less reliant on fossil fuels and more circular in nature. Many industries currently have an addiction to cheap fossil fuels, such as the footwear and fashion industries, and it is important that we as a society begin to ween those industries off of those unsustainable materials and move them towards natural and circular materials. Leather, along with other natural materials like wool, cotton, and others, will certainly be needed to fill the materials gap that will be left as we reduce reliance on plastics and other fossil-fuel based materials in fashion.

Richa Bansal

RICHA BANSAL has more than 30 years of media industry experience, of which the last 20 years have been with leading fashion magazines in both B2B and B2C domains. Her areas of interest are traditional textiles and fabrics, retail operations, case studies, branding stories, and interview-driven features.

 
 
 
  • Dated posted: 23 May 2022
  • Last modified: 23 May 2022