Cited by companies including Puma, which used the platform as a resource when fact-checking leather statistics, we celebrate 10 years since World Leather’s publisher launched the platform to dispel myths and untruths.

It is just over 10 years since World Trades Publishing launched its Nothing to Hide series of articles and website in a bid to counter some of the myths that were circulating about the leather industry; and the resource is now more relevant than ever. Born from a deep understanding of the inner workings of the leather industry – in part driven by the team’s decades-long experience and on-the-ground reports from more than 50 tanneries for Tannery of the Year – the initiative sought to deliver the truth about leather-making and chemicals, sourcing information from official bodies or penned by industry experts.

The inspiration for the title came from a quote from Greg Page, then-CEO of meat company Cargill, who said, “In a world where nothing can be hidden, we must have nothing to hide.” At that time, the likes of PETA were pushing untruths such as the leather industry kills animals, and that it was a polluting and unregulated sector. It was also a time when synthetics masking as “vegan leather” were gaining some traction. The team at World Leather wanted to help the industry counter this and create a platform for facts, expert know-how and science-based discussion.

The series is all encompassing, covering the science behind the tannery – including debates around chrome – through to the work tanneries do to exceed environmental targets and look after their surroundings and their workers. It also covers leather’s many benefits over synthetics, detailing them in a way that those new to the industry, or wanting to find out more, can easily access.

It was important to have input from respected experts in each field, so each topic was covered in as much depth as possible, and so that any journalists or academics accessing the reports would be free to quote from these verified sources. Authors include leather chemists Elton Hurlow, Dr Dietrich Tegtmeyer and Dr Alois G Püntener, auditor Jutta Knoedler and former CEO of Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) Steven Jesseph. The articles also cite official sources such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the World Bank and the Leather and Hide Council of America (LCHA).

As the articles were originally penned ten years ago, the team recently revisited and updated them, adding in up-to-date figures and examples.

Vital resource

Over the years, the landscape has altered slightly but the fundamental issues remain the same. Anecdotally, the fierce marketing pushes towards “vegan leather” – plastic – seem to have diminished, which could in part be because of the fear of greenwashing regulations and fines, but also due to the growing understanding of the detrimental effect of plastic in the environment. In its place, leather’s name has been used by some bio-based alternatives, made with raw materials such as mycelium, mushrooms, grapes and food waste. While clearly much better for the planet than the competing plastics, all are at an early stage, and none are able to compete with leather on performance, durability and cost. They remain a nascent niche product that might be used by a small number of high-end brands but are not a real threat to leather in the mass market.

Looking ahead, global meat consumption is growing, and will rise by approximately 3% per year to 2033 from a 2022 baseline, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and the FAO. Global herd and flock expansion, combined with continuous improvements in animal breeding, management, infrastructures and technology, will increase production over the period, particularly in upper middle-income countries. These countries will drive the growth in global meat production to reach 382 Mt (+12%) by 2033. The amount of skins available to the global leather industry is set to increase. 

In the last 10 years, the price of leather has swung from highs of more than $100 per hide in 2015  to a reported $1 per hide this year, according to the US Department of Agriculture. We have also seen an increasing amount of these hides ending up in landfill – approximately 5 million in the US alone, by LHCA estimates. In theory, low hide prices should mean lower leather prices and therefore a greater uptake by fashion and footwear brands; but this has not been the case, and there is clearly more work to do on leather’s marketing.

World Leather will continue to champion leather, its makers and supply chain. As well as the Nothing to Hide and Tannery of the Year initiatives, we are now well into our series on Leather in the Circular Economy, publishing over 150 articles and interviews to show how it fits into circular and recycling strategies, which will become ever more important with incoming regulation. Industry groups such as Leather Naturally, Metcha, One 4 Leather, Leather Working Group and the Sustainable Leather Foundation have also worked hard to improve leather’s standing in the fashion market. We believe Nothing to Hide continues to offer a resource for journalists, brands and the wider industry looking to delve deeper into the story behind this beautiful, durable and circular material.

Essays covered in Nothing to Hide:
1. Hides & skins: use or lose
2. Animal welfare: we care
3. Forests: measures in place
4. Animals: anti-poverty
5. Meat industry: by-product recycled
6. Chemistry: not all bad
7. Health
8. Chrome: the facts 1
9. Chrome: the facts 2
10. Water: reduce, reuse, recycle
11. Leather and the ‘Blue Economy’
12. Carbon: real footprints
13. CSR: absolutely
14. Plastic: the price to pay
15. Beautiful: not throw-away fashion

TOTY still highlights global best practice

As well as the Nothing to Hide resource, all the articles from the Tannery of the Year competition are available on leatherbiz.com. Established in 2009 and running for 10 years, the Tannery of the Year programme sought to celebrate commitment to innovation, partnership, leadership and sustainability. Editor Stephen Tierney and then-technical editor Richard Daniels travelled all over the world, usually spending two days in each tannery, inspecting and reporting from a technical standpoint – including machinery, effluent, chemicals and processes – as well as from a strategic and social perspective. What they found was these businesses not only worked to the highest standards technically and in terms of their impact on the environment, but also that they cared for their workers and often went above and beyond in their communities, for instance, investing in healthcare, in local schools and local services. 

To be included in the shortlist, tanneries had to be nominated by independent industry players. Over the 10-year cycle, the team racked up some serious airmiles: visiting 14 Chinese tanneries; three in the US, Vietnam, Brazil and Ethiopia; two each in Turkey, Italy and the Dominican Republic; and tanneries in Uganda, Thailand, Scotland, India, Sudan, Sweden, Iceland, Russia, Australia, Portugal, Pakistan, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, Namibia, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Netherlands and Germany.

The Tannery of the Year awards dinner was held every 18 months in either Shanghai or Hong Kong, and the winners were named as Tannery Share Company, Ethiopia; Heller-Leder, Germany; PrimeAsia, China; Wollsdorf Leather, Austria; Mississippi TanTec, US; and Couro do Norte, Brazil.

The in-depth 5,000-word reports on each nominated tannery are available to read on the leatherbiz website, and still serve as a valuable insight into modern-day leather-making.

Head to: www.nothing-to-hide.org.uk

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