A meeting of a group called the Sustainable Livestock Intergroup in Strasbourg on May 21. The main topic of discussion at the meeting was to explore the ways in which leather and wool make positive contributions to the environment.   

Scientific director of research and testing laboratory CTC ARS Tinctoria, Gustavo Adrián Defeo, was the leather sector’s main contributor at the event. 

He explained to the members of the European Parliament that make up the bulk of the group’s membership the work that went into leather’s official recognition last year as a biobased material under the CEN/TC 411 standard. 

He then pointed out that tests on prominent materials that manufacturers present as alternatives to leather have made it clear that leather, by a long way, is more circular and more sustainable. 

CTC ARS Tinctoria has tested “vegan materials” that are 100% petrol-derived, Gustavo Defeo explained. 

“In tests, a material that the manufacturers claim comes from cactus has turned out to have a composition that is 26% derived from natural materials and 74% from petrol-based polyurethane,” he added. “In contrast, our tests on the traditional, vegetable-tanned vacchetta leather from Tuscany have proved it to be 96% biobased.”