01 February 2022

After launching in late 2021, the LWG Environmental Impact Working Group (EIWG) joined for its first meeting this year on 27 January 2022.   What is the LWG Environmental Impact Working Group (EIWG)?  LWG’s environmental impact group aims to:  Provide a platform for engagement and education on the environmental impact of leather,  Work toward increasing the knowledge and understanding of leather’s environmental impact,   Define ways to achieve goals to reduce the impact across the leather value chain, By using the information shared within the EIWG, LWG hopes to be able to assist businesses to...

27 January 2022

Northampton, United Kingdom — 27 January 2022: The world’s leading manufacturer of premium automobiles and motorcycles, the BMW Group, has joined Leather Working Group as an automotive member.  With sustainability at the center of their future strategic direction, the BMW Group recently joined Leather Working Group (LWG) to support their long-term concept of sustainable mobility. The BMW Group has set itself the ambitious goal of creating the most sustainable supply chain in the entire industry. All the while, the BMW Group is conscious of meeting its responsibility for...

25 January 2022

Nominate your company for the LWG Executive Committee! As of 25 January 2022, Leather Working Group has opened nominations for a member of the LWG Executive Committee to represent certified leather manufacturers. Pittards (represented by Jon Loxston) is coming to the end of their term in March 2022. As this is their first term, Pittards are eligible to renominate themselves for a second 4-year term.  What is the LWG Executive Committee? The LWG Executive Committee (EC) is the governing body of the Leather Working Group, elected to represent their sector and provide knowledge and input to the strategy of the group. Being an elected member of the...

21 January 2022

Version 7.2 of the LWG Leather Manufacturer Audit Protocol (P7.2) will become effective as of Tuesday 1 February 2022. Following a review of Protocol 7.1, our auditing and technical teams have made some minor modifications to the protocol for the sake of clarification. Due to the nature of these amendments, there will be no phase in period. As such, Version 7.2 of the LWG Leather Manufacturer Audit Protocol (P7.2) will become mandatory as of 1 February 2022. Changes from P7.1 to P7.2 To view all changes between P7.1 and P7.2, please visit the P7 Documentation page on our website. Accessing P7.2 To download a copy of Protocol 7.2, log in to...

18 January 2022

On 9 and 10 March 2022, Leather Working Group will host two webinars given by industry expert Stuart Cranfield on the topic of social compliance in leather manufacturing facilities. Version 7.0 of the LWG Leather Manufacturer Audit Standard (P7), launched in August 2021, introduced a social audit section for the first time. LWG's social requirements incentivize leather manufacturers to demonstrate their commitment to maintaining ethical social standards by obtaining a social audit certification through an approved scheme. Presented by industry expert, Stuart Cranfield, the webinar will give an overview of the key areas for social compliance covered by industry-leading...

18 January 2022

After the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) late last year, the sustainability world has renewed its focus on tackling climate change.  The fashion industry – and related sectors – have an opportunity to take real, meaningful action to address climate challenges and reduce the sector’s carbon emissions. In 2022, Leather Working Group expects to see an industry start to shift towards embracing a fully holistic ESG focus – covering all environmental, social and governance aspects of global supply chains, from raw material producers to retailers of finished products. Some of the key focus areas we think we’ll see more of this year are: Increased...

13 January 2022

Register for our webinar here. Leather Working Group will be joined by experts from the FILK Freiberg Institute on 1 February 2022 to deliver a webinar on the technical performance of leather as a material, compared to the performance of non-animal, bio-based materials. Event title: Leather & synthetic substitutes – a comparison of animal based and vegan alternative materials Event description: With the ever-growing focus on sustainability and responsible production across the globe, the leather industry is under pressure to demonstrate the performance and impact of leather as a material. In 2021, the FILK Freiberg Institute published a study investigating the...

13 January 2022

A reminder that we have updated out subcontractor & trader audit standards and opened a 60-day consultation period for feedback! The deadline to submit your feedback is 31 January 2022, so make sure you get your comments in before then. LWG Subcontractor Audit — Version 2.0 The LWG Subcontractor Audit Protocol (SCAP) was launched in 2020, designed to assess and certify companies that act as subcontractors on behalf of other organizations. Version 2.0 of the LWG Subcontractor Audit incorporates more elements of P7, the latest version of the LWG Leather Manufacturer Audit Protocol. Subcontractors will be assessed using similar criteria as leather manufacturers, including...

04 January 2022

Leather Working Group’s new sustainability projects will provide companies with data-driven insights to empower them to reduce their environmental impact in a scientific, quantitative way. 2021 was an exciting year for LWG, and after growing our team, we will have a busy 2022. Last year we kicked off several strategic projects that will deliver science-based data to our members in the new year. LWG Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) We’re conducting the largest ever lifecycle assessment (LCA) for the leather industry. The LWG LCA study will collect and analyze data from a minimum of 40 leather manufacturers based in various regions across the globe. By maximizing and...

08 December 2021

The Leather Working Group (LWG) is pleased to announce the recruitment of two members to our team. Jennifer Thorpe joined the LWG as our new Marketing Manager in early November 2021, and Juan Palomeque-Gonzalez, the new LWG Data Analyst, joined us in early December. See more information about our new team members below: Juan Palomeque-Gonzalez — Data Analyst  Juan joins the LWG Team as our new Data Analyst, responsible for managing the LWG’s technical data. Juan will play a key role in LWG’s digitalisation efforts, including audit digitisation and the development of...

08 December 2021

November saw the release of the awaited proposed Regulation from the European Commission on ‘deforestation free’ products. Full details on the European Commission website.  The UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have just this week released a second round of consultation on the implementation of due diligence provisions for key ‘forest risk’ commodities. The legislation aims to tackle illegal deforestation in the supply chains of UK businesses.  The consultation is seeking views on which types of commodities and businesses that should be subject to...

06 December 2021

The Leather Working Group office will be closed over the Christmas holidays, from 24 December 2021 to 3 January 2022 inclusive. We would like to thank our members and collaboration partners for an incredibly productive and busy year, and we wish you all a restful holiday period. Our team looks forward to reconnecting with you all in the New Year.   Thursday 23 December Open Friday 24 December Closed Monday 27 December Closed Tuesday 28...