Each year, approximately 331 million cattle are processed by the meat industry, resulting in over 2.18 billion cubic meters of hides.

It’s estimated that 40% of these 331 million hides (over 3.8 billion kg) are not used and end up in landfill. That’s equivalent to 6,650 (fully laden) Airbus A380s.

These statistics clearly indicate that leather is a by-product, rather than a driver, for cattle rearing. The economic value of a cow hide is roughly 1-2% of the overall total value, and as we can see, they are thrown away in large volumes instead of being used.

Of the remaining 60%, the automotive leather industry accounts for 18%. If laid end to end, the hides used for automotive leather would wrap around the Earth 1.8 times.