Carbon emissions comparison shows the folly of hide waste
In addition to our exclusive Leather Pipeline report and its usual analysis of the leather value chain, our new-look electronic newsletter, Leatherbiz Market Intelligence, published for the first time on January 5, includes an extra component, Long Read.
As the name suggests, this section will offer an in-depth look at issues the leather industry is facing.
Our Long Read this time is an advance look at a feature that we intend to publish in World Leather in the weeks ahead. It picks up on an idea that the Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA) flagged up at the end of 2020 and examines the impact that cattle hides have on the environment.
Are greenhouse gas emissions higher or lower if we turn hides into leather rather than let them go to waste? The answer is certain to surprise some.
Tanners use hides to create jobs, generate wealth and produce material that is long-lasting, high-performance, natural, renewable, noble, affordable, safe, reusable and beautiful. Putting that to one side, the Long Read article, focuses only on the carbon emissions.
Using figures that it has said are in the public domain and speak for themselves, LHCA calculated that hides weighing, on average, 25 kilos could each be expected to generate emissions of around 22.25 kilos of CO2-equivalent if left to go to waste.
From statistics that have are also in the public domain, having been published in sustainability reports from leather manufacturers and tanning industry associations, we have been able to calculate that the emissions a high-performing tanner would generate by transforming the same material into finished leather instead of wasting it would be 4.55 kilos of CO2-equivalent per hide.
The article concludes that it is, therefore, nearly five times better for the environment to tan hides than to dispose of them. Again, this does not take into account the benefits of making and using long-lasting, beautiful leather or the environmental footprint of any alternative material that a footwear, accessories, automotive interior or furniture manufacturer might use instead of leather.
It’s about the hides. The environmental benefit of tanning them instead of wasting them is crystal clear.
