Putting facts front and centre, this series of industry expert essays sets out to shine the light of truth on how leather is really made. Dispelling the incorrect and obsolete agenda driven misinformation published about the leather industry today.
Executive summary
There has always been a delicate balance between the meat industry and the leather sector. Since we published the original version of essay...
This essay tackles the myth that synthetic materials are as good as leather. The value of an article may be defined as a function of its performance during use and perceptions of its uniqueness or...
The most common method used throughout the world for tanning leather is known as chrome tannage. Approximately 85% of all leathers are manufactured using this process...
About this essay
Dr Alois G PALntener, based in Switzerland, is considered an inventor and innovator in the chemistry of leather production, with a host of patents to his name.
Every manufacturing industry uses chemicals and these products are part of everyday life. Accordingly, the process of leather manufacture also uses chemicals to meet...
The volume of hides and skins coming as a by-product from the global meat industry is enormous. Figures suggest the meat industry generates 240 million cattle hides a year...
Specialist UN agency the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has said 900 million people in extreme poverty live in rural areas and most of them rely on livestock...
Multi-stakeholders initiatives, private monitoring systems, research on low carbon livestock production, mitigation projects, have together shown that it is possible to produce meat (and consequently...
This essay explains the work animal welfare expert Dr Temple Grandin has done to help abattoirs in many parts of the world improve the way they work...
The global market for beef, and hence hides for leather production, is finely balanced. The supply is clearly based on the demand for beef, rather than the needs of the leather sector...
Corporate social responsibility in the leather industry 
Alternative materials to leather: environmental impacts and cost 
The properties and value of leather 
The carbon footprint of leather 
Leather and the circular (or Blue) economy 
Management of water-use in tanneries 
Chrome and specific health issues 
Chrome in leather manufacture 
The effects of chemicals on workers and consumers 
Standards and use limitations for chemicals in leather production 
Hide and skin production around the world 
The value of livestock and animal protein in the fight against poverty and malnutrition 
Nothing to Hide: Issues of deforestation 
Animal welfare and animals as valuable providers of consumer products 
Hides and skins: by-products of meat production 
