14 July 2025
Dr Kerry Senior, Director of Leather UK and Secretary of the International Council of Tanners, writes on LinkedIn:
Fascinating video from the International Wool Textile Organisation conference in Lille this year, in which Dr Paul Swan describes the failings in current LCA systems when measuring the environmental impact of wool, to account for the biogenic nature of sheep and wool production. Current data sets do not reflect the latest standards, such as ISO-14067 or EN-18027 and greatly overestimate the impact of biogenic materials, like wool and leather, through linear, accumulative models that do not work for biological systems.
Really importantly, Dr Swan calls for all the relevant partners in the supply chain to work together for their mutual benefit.
This cooperation to create an accurate picture of the impact of materials is critical and no less relevant for leather than for wool. Brands are crying out for up to date, relevant and objective data to inform their choice of material. We need to make sure they get it.
