The largest lifecycle assessment (LCA) programme for the leather industry is now under way. The programme of the Leather Working Group (LWG) will quantify the environmental impact of leather made in LWG-certified manufacturing facilities by collecting data on key impact areas.
The project: The LWG will work with Milan-based sustainability consultancy, Spin360, to investigate the environmental impact across areas such as energy and water usage, air and wastewater emissions, and waste management. Spin360 has already started engaging with leather manufacturers that will be part of the project to kick off the data collection period of the study.
The LWG LCA will provide insights into the key impact categories for bovine leather used across multiple representative sectors, considering chrome and chrome-free tannage, as well as splits.
The results, expected by November 2022, will provide up-to-date, representative data on environmental impact of leather. The project was announced in November 2021.
How it will work:
- In the first phase, LWG and Spin360 will define the study’s goal and scope. This will include defining the type of leather that will be considered in the study, as well as factors such as geographical origin, animal type, tanning technologies and the industries served (footwear, apparel, upholstery, etc.).
- The LWG Environmental Impact Working Group will lend their knowledge and expertise to the goal and scope definition phase of the LCA to ensure the work is representative and valuable to the LWG community.
- The study will collect and analyse data from a minimum of 40 leather manufacturers based in various regions across the globe—making it the largest ever LCA conducted for the leather industry.
- By maximising and diversifying the data collected, the study will aim to include a wide representation of leather made in LWG-certified facilities.
- The research will draw on information about the raw material, energy usage, chemicals, water consumption, water and air emissions, and waste management—all of which is already collected and validated as part of the LWG Leather Manufacturer Audit. The study will also collect additional information from leather manufacturers directly.
- The assessment will be peer reviewed and aligned with the most relevant provisions of the ISO 14040 on data quality, including time related coverage, geographical coverage, technology coverage, representativeness, and consistency.
- It will provide insights into a range of environmental impact categories such as global warming potential (climate change), abiotic resource depletion (fossil fuels), eutrophication, water resource depletion and toxicity.
- With the data that is eventually generated, brands and retailers will be able to make science-based sourcing decisions and progress towards their supply chain sustainability goals.
- The LWG will utilise the results to further refine the LWG Leather Manufacturer Audit Protocol.
