The Sustainable Leather Foundation is a not-for-profit, community interest company with a vision is to enable collective improvement and education globally, for more sustainable practices in leather manufacturer and production. The Sustainable Leather Foundation is concerned with all aspects of sustainability - Environmental, Social & Governance - and aims to provide a transparent approach to sustainability with a consumer facing output.
Earth-minded: How UK leather pioneers are setting global standards in sustainability
Leather remains prevalent in our everyday lives; a material tradition, rooted in an understanding of nature and natural processes that humanity has kept up for thousands of years. This legacy is now informing a modern discourse, with different challenges and opportunities arising as part of the climate crisis. As resources like leather are put under the microscope, its place as a sustainable material is being championed by UK companies, brands, and individuals for the benefit of a global industry.
Read the story: https://lnkd.in/eKZjTDHd
Featuring: Dr Warren Bowden of Scottish Leather Group; Deborah Taylor, PQCI, ASLTC; Debbie Burton - Leather Naturally, Leather Working Group; Dame Anya Hindmarch
✒️ Zoe Suen
📷 Anya Hindmarch, Return to Nature Tote
#leather#sustainabilityMike Redwood
Final reminder to join us tomorrow for our SLF End of Year Partner Meeting!
We will be be holding the meeting in the Leathersellers' Hide at the University of Northampton and virtually for those who cannot attend in person.
We will be giving updates on the work the Foundation has done this year and provide some important information about challenges and legislation that face the leather industry.
If you have any questions you'd like us to address, please leave them in the comments below!
To register for the partner meeting, please click below:
https://lnkd.in/gmZaYYxr
On Tuesday, 3rd December 2024, we will be hosting our Annual Partner Meeting at the Leatherseller's Hide, University of Northampton. For those unable to join us in person, we’re offering a virtual option to attend.
Our packed agenda will include an update on the Foundation’s latest work, as well as exciting guest speakers who will discuss the critical issues currently shaping the leather industry.
We look forward to connecting with our partners and industry leaders for an insightful and engaging event!
It’s not too late to register and we are accepting registrations from all interested stakeholders including those who are not yet partners of the Foundation to provide an insight into upcoming regulation that will affect our industry and information on the important work SLF does.
To read the full agenda please click here:
https://lnkd.in/eAa8kn_p
Click here to register:
https://lnkd.in/gmZaYYxr#slf#sustainability#ESG#leather#partnership#meeting#workingtogether
We are delighted to announce our final guest speaker for our SLF End of Year Partner Meeting on Tuesday 3rd December 2024, Gustavo Gonzalez-Quijano.
His presentation will focus on ‘The Pisa study’, which looks at the impact of the EUDR on the leather industry.
Gustavo’s presentation will answer a number of questions including:
- What does top-level academic research reveal with regard to leather being a driver of deforestation?
- Does the EU leather industry have the power to drive EUDR-type traceability in the supply chain?
- Will the planet benefit if Global Trade in the EU tanning sector declines due to the impact of the EUDR on trade?
Since 1987, Gustavo has led the Brussels-based leather industry association COTANCE.
COTANCE is the sectors EU umbrella organisation gathering the National Tanners’ Associations of 11 European countries, representing over 90% of the continent’s leather production.
Gustavo Gonzalez-Quijano is a qualified lawyer specialising in European Law.
If you have any other questions you would like to put to Gustavo, please add them in the comments below.
To register for the event please click here:
https://lnkd.in/e-ry3Cf9#slf#sustainability#ESG#leather#partnership#meeting#EUDR#deforestation#workingtogether#traceability
Managing Director at Sustainable Leather Foundation CIC, Consultant at United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Council Member of The Society of Leather Technologists and Chemists
Having just read this report by Transformers Foundation https://lnkd.in/e7dVbTRn, it is great to see that wider acknowledgement is now being published about the need for full supplier inclusion for improvement.
As addressed by World Leather & Leatherbiz, the report says that rules, governance and processes “often perpetuate supplier exclusion” and that the initiatives, though well-intentioned, often reinforce barriers that limit supplier participation, leading to what it calls "a cycle of distrust, disengagement, and ineffective sustainability strategies”.
This is exactly why Sustainable Leather Foundation created a different model when we established in 2020. Our entire premise is based on our A.I.M. Approach to improvement - we are accessible, inclusive and modular. Any facility at any position in the leather value chain can become a partner of the Foundation and benefit from their own Transparency Dashboard, along with access to a toolbox of peer reviewed Standards adopting normative references, Guidance Notes and Templates, designed to enable and empower collective improvement for our industry.
To learn more about our work, please contact: info@sustainableleatherfoundation.com or visit the website: https://lnkd.in/enH6vwp.
You can also register for our end of year meeting to hear about our work in practice as we review our 4th year of supporting the leather industry: https://lnkd.in/eKDn_J3F
Supplier relationships: ZDHC responds
Multi-stakeholder initiative ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme (ZDHC) has said it recognises that the role suppliers play in driving fashion industry-wide #environmental improvements is vital.
It has told World Leather that it shares Transformers Foundation’s commitment to “addressing barriers and fostering inclusive participation”. It said it had implemented “robust mechanisms” to make sure of active supplier participation in its own programme. It added that supplier insights “shape decision-making at every level”.
Read the full exclusive story here :
leatherbiz.com/News/170263#leather#leatherindustry
We are delighted to announce our next guest speaker at the SLF End of Year Partner Meeting, Dr. Oluwaseyi Omoloso!
Dr Omoloso willl be delivering a presentation introducing the 'Leathertrace Bangladesh project.'
'Leathertrace Bangladesh, aims to engage various stakeholders in the Bangladeshi tannery sector to develop, implement and pilot a digitised traceability system that supports a transition to more sustainable tannery practices.'
The project is led by the University of Northampton in partnership with the Sustainable Leather Foundation, SERA Bangladesh and IdeaTree Bangladesh. The project is funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, under their Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution Programme.
Dr Omoloso is a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Business at the University of Northampton. He obtained his PhD in Business Sustainability, investigating how leather related companies can better implement, communicate and measure social sustainability impacts within their supply chain. He has been actively involved in leading enterprise projects related to Net Zero, Social Impact, Plastic Waste Mitigation, Circularity, Leather Sustainability and Lean Product Development. He has also contributed to International polices around plastic waste in Agriculture.
Please leave any questions or comments you may have on the Leathertrace Bangladesh project down below and Dr Omoloso will aim to answer these at our partner meeting.
To register, please click the link below:
https://lnkd.in/gmZaYYxr#slf#sustainability#ESG#leather#partnership#meeting#Bangladesh#leathertrace#workingtogether#traceability
We are pleased to announce our next guest speaker, Kevin Latner, vice-president of Leather and Hide Council of America. Kevin will be giving a presentation on: “The arc of leather production: Solutions in training and science”.
'No hide should go to waste. Leather production is under threat from misinformed corporate social responsibility advocates, animal denialists and economic opportunists. Every hide that goes to waste is 300kg CO2e emissions. We need to turn the page and change the narrative.'
Kevin Latner is vice-president of the Leather and Hide Council of America and non-executive director of the Sustainable Leather Foundation. In his current role he supports L&HCA's global marketing program, sustainability initiatives and European partner engagement.
Kevin has been associated with the agricultural industry for over 30 years, more than half of this time was the with USDA's Foreign Argicultural Service in both China and Japan. He represented the US Grains council as the representative to China, and was the executive director of the Cotton Council International (CCI) and vice-president of the National Cotton Council (NCC).
We would welcome your comments and observations on this subject matter, please post any questions that you may have below and Kevin will try to respond to these points during the session.
To register for the event, please click below:
https://lnkd.in/gmZaYYxr#slf#sustainability#esg#leather#Partnership#meeting#CSR#workingtogether#LHCA#NoHideShouldGoToWaste
We are pleased to announce the second of our speakers for our SLF End of Year Partner Meeting being held on the 3rd of December 2024.
Katie Kutskill will give a presentation focused on how to dispell the myths and misconceptions present within our industry and how to better communicate opportunities and potentials for the global leather industry.
Katie will be giving a Q&A session afterwards so we would welcome any questions you may have, please leave them in the comments down below!
Katie holds a BA in Environmental Studies and Political Science from the University of Michigan and an MSc in Leather Technology from the University of Northampton. She has over a decade in the leather industry, with her most recent roles as Technical Director at the Sustainable Leather Foundation and Executive Global Director of Product Development & Sustainability Officer at Pangea. Currently she is the Business Operations and Strategy lead for the Is It Leather? global campaign.
To register for our partner meeting, please click the link below:
https://lnkd.in/gmZaYYxr#slf#sustainability#ESG#leather#partnership#meeting#greenwashing#workingtogether
