A turbulent month for the Leather Industry

A busy and turbulent month for the leather industry, particularly in the UK, as we saw one of our oldest tanneries, Pittards, head into administration, resulting in the loss of 150 jobs in the UK and 850 jobs in Ethiopia. That news was followed just a week later with a letter from the Vice Chancellor of the University of Northampton to inform the many invested industry stakeholders that the future of the Institute for Creative Leather Technologies (ICLT) is now under threat of closure. This news has been met with widespread dismay and shock, with many industry groups (including SLF) writing to express their concern and desire to protect this world leading leather institution for the future of our industry.
We would urge any of you who have studied at, supported or benefited from the work of the ICLT to write to the Vice Chancellor to express your support for the leather faculty in the hope that we can reverse this decision.
More than anything, this is a stark reminder that if we don't support our industry and assume it will just carry on regardless, we will continue to see decline. Industry groups and associations all over the world are working hard to change the mis-informed narrative that our industry is not sustainable, but we need to see investment and work stronger together to amplify the message.
It is not all bad news, Scottish Leather Group recently opened its new state of the art tannery and there are a number of brands who are actively supporting leather manufacturing, some even buying their own tanneries to safeguard production and quality.
Here at the Foundation, we have spent much of September talking with people at the many industry events that take place during this busy month, Sustainable Leather Forum in Paris and Lineapelle in Milan. The key themes of these discussions centre around traceability and sourcing as organisations start to focus on some of the incoming legislation, such as the EUDR and the EUCSRD. Did you know that SLF has Pathway Papers and Information Guides on these topics?
It's interesting to think that traceability and deforestation have been on the industry agenda since 2008 and yet 15 years on and we haven't really progressed that far. Legislation will force that change whether industry wants it or not. How we meet that legislation and the challenges it presents is really up to us as a collective industry. Do we continue to sit and wait for the EU to tell us what to do (which we may not be able to do) or do we rise to this challenge so that the EU doesn't need to tell us what to do?
Food for thought but if you are ready to drive forward the necessary changes, then rest assured that SLF will be ready to support you every step of the way.
In other news, we have been busy with audits and welcoming new partners to the Foundation from Turkey, Austria, Mexico and the Netherlands. If you would like to know more about how we can support your sustainability journey, you can contact us at info@sustainableleatherfoundation.com to become part of the change that’s necessary.