The tanning industry is often considered to be a menace as far as environmental impact is concerned, but what risks would we come up against if leather was not processed? There are many factors to be considered.
Leather is an organic material which, if not treated correctly, decomposes until it putrefies. When putrefied, it becomes waste to be disposed of, a process that could require many resources and increase soil and water pollution.
It is clear that leather is processed using sources like water, electricity and chemical substances, which would be wasted – just as much as the animal hides would waste – if tanning did not exist. Prehistoric man realised that hides were not waste material, but rather something to be salvaged, because they were useful as protection from atmospheric agents.
Today, continual research and development have led to optimal results as far as minimising the waste deriving from leather processing is concerned; the waste is transformed into substances that can be used in different contexts, for example agriculture, cosmetics, the pharmaceutical industry, and others.
Tanning also has an impact on biodiversity, because the demand for leather that comes from sustainable sources leads to animals being bred for tannery production, and this is an important contribution to biological diversity in some regions.
The tanning industry has been active in environmental sustainability for a long time, and it aims at continuous improvement through practices that are always more efficient.
