Leather's Circular Makeover: Landmark Review Maps Life Cycle

A major review of leather published in the journal Collagen and Leather argues the industry could be a legitimate candidate for circular-economy leadership—if environmental claims are backed by more rigorous measurement. The analysis compiles decades of life cycle assessment (LCA) research to compare leather’s impacts across extraction, manufacturing, use and disposal, and to identify where leather prevents waste. It highlights that LCA is the method behind many credible environmental claims, tracing emissions, energy, water and toxicity through a product’s life. The paper also describes LCA’s evolution into a decision-support system used in frameworks such as the EU’s Product Environmental Footprint rules. It notes that hides are by-products of meat and milk: more than 99% of global leather raw materials come from them, and converting them can prevent methane and other greenhouse gases from decomposition, while reducing upstream disposal costs by roughly 20% in cited studies.