Why We Need To Demonstrate The Value of Leather To Support Sustainability
Authored by: Carla Vélez, Leather Naturally Communications Lead & Leather Cluster Barcelona Project Manager
On 7th September 2026, the Sustainable Leather Forum 2026 brought together stakeholders from across the leather value chain and connected sectors, including tanners, livestock and raw material representatives, European industry organisations, fashion and luxury, technology providers, and sustainability experts.
The overall feeling across the day was one of an industry facing significant transformation, but with a clear willingness to innovate and collaborate. Discussions were realistic about changing consumer demand, alternative materials, European regulation, raw material availability and geopolitical uncertainty, while remaining strongly focused on solutions and future opportunities.
A particularly strong message throughout the Forum was that sustainability and competitiveness are increasingly part of the same conversation. Sustainability is being approached not simply as compliance, but through its connection to efficiency, resilience, innovation and long-term business competitiveness.
Leather demand and desirability
The challenge is increasingly not simply access to hides, but maintaining demand for leather and its position within the wider materials market. This puts greater emphasis on communicating durability, repairability, quality, natural characteristics and circular potential.
Traceability: from information to proof
The conversation is moving towards independently verifiable claims. The ORITAIN case presented scientific analysis as a way to help confirm geographic origin, potentially complementing digital traceability, certification and documentation.
Regulation as potential differentiation
European regulation creates challenges, but verified environmental performance, transparency and traceability can also differentiate European leather when these become purchasing requirements for brands and customers.
Collaboration across the value chain
Water resilience, chemistry, traceability, circularity and communication were repeatedly presented as challenges that individual companies cannot solve alone. Cooperation across industry, research, education, brands and public bodies is becoming increasingly important.
Innovation and new ideas
One particularly interesting innovation theme was the diversification of animal by-products. Instead of treating lower-quality hides simply as waste, improved sorting can direct different qualities and fractions towards applications such as gelatine, proteins, fertilisers and other industrial uses. This points towards a broader circular model in which each fraction is directed towards the application capable of creating the greatest value.
Innovation in tanning also featured strongly, particularly around alternative tanning chemistry, reducing or replacing substances of concern, recycling tanning agents and improving long-term water resilience.
Another important development is the increasing connection between science and communication. It is becoming less sufficient simply to make sustainability claims: the industry increasingly needs robust methodologies, sector-specific data and evidence capable of demonstrating those claims.
The global perspective
The Forum showed that there is no single global reality for leather. Brazil, China, and Europe face different conditions regarding livestock, industrial scale, environmental requirements, technology and market positioning.
European leather continues to be associated with quality, craftsmanship, technical know-how, reputation and premium/luxury markets. At the same time, international competitors are developing their technological capabilities, environmental performance, certification and traceability. The message was therefore less about relying on Europe’s historical reputation and more about continuing to innovate and demonstrate value.
A positive and realistic consensus
Mood at the event can best be described as constructive and cautiously positive rather than blindly optimistic. There was clear acknowledgement of competition from alternative materials, changing consumption, declining livestock production in parts of Europe, regulatory pressure, geopolitical uncertainty and increasingly sophisticated global competition.
At the same time, there was confidence in the strengths leather already possesses: technical know-how, craftsmanship, durability, high-value applications, increasingly sophisticated sustainability practices and its capacity to transform an existing animal by-product into a durable material.
A summary of key takeaways
- Leather needs to demonstrate value, not only sustainability performance
- Traceability is evolving from documentation towards verifiable proof
- Circularity can create new value streams from lower-quality hides and other animal by-products
- Science and sector-specific evidence will be increasingly important in sustainability communication
- European quality and craftsmanship remain important strengths, but continuous innovation is essential
- Collaboration across the value chain is becoming indispensable
- Sustainability can strengthen competitiveness, resilience and long-term business performance