7 July 2025
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a comprehensive method for evaluating the environmental impacts of a product, process, or service throughout its entire life cycle – from raw material to disposal or recycling. Leather Working Group’s LCA provides accurate insights into the environmental impacts of leather production, with a primary goal of helping stakeholders reduce environmental footprints and make informed and sustainable decisions.
Conducted by specialist sustainability consultants Spin 360, Leather Working Group's LCA delivers a comprehensive assessment of leather production, spanning 50 distinct products across six product families. These include chrome-tanned and glutaraldehyde-tanned leathers used in footwear, furniture, leather goods, and automotive upholstery. The analysis covers the entire production process – from raw material sourcing to finished leather manufacturing – and incorporates globally sourced data.
This analysis evaluates the environmental impact of producing one square metre of finished leather, with additional metrics available per kilogram. It examines key impact categories, including Global Warming Potential, Eutrophication, Abiotic Depletion, Water Use, Freshwater Ecotoxicity, and Water Consumption.
Leather Working Group’s Life Cycle Assessment outlines actionable measures to improve the environmental credentials of leather production, emphasising a holistic approach to mitigating adverse impacts.
Leather Working Grouo-certified leather manufacturers should utilise this data to minimise their environmental footprint, while brands and retailers can use these insights to make informed sourcing decisions and advance their sustainability goals.
A summary of the findings can be downloaded here and the full LWG LCA report is available to LWG stakeholders via their user portal. Log in here