29 April 2020

LWG opens registration for its Membership Update Webinar, to be held on Tuesday 26th May 2020. After the cancellation of the LWG Member Meeting in Hong Kong, originally scheduled for 3rd April 2020, LWG will provide a condensed 2-hour presentation for members to update them on the activity of the group. The webinar will cover topics such as LWG's response to Covid-19, benchmarking, updates on training and the LWG Tannery of the Future, and the ZDHC MRSL. View the full agenda here.  Places are limited, so make sure to register as soon as possible by clicking here and completing the registration form.  The webinar will be recorded and published in the private Member...

23 April 2020

As the outbreak of the coronavirus continues to affect the global marketplace, LWG has instituted an audit certification extension scheme for those leather manufacturers and traders that are unable to undergo their scheduled re-audit.  The web listings of those companies that have applied for an extension have been amended to reflect the new expiry date. To ensure proper visibility, we have added a note to these listings to identify those that have been granted an extension and list their original expiry date. See example below: If no reference to an extension is made, the audit expiry date is as listed on their certificate and within their audit report.  All web...

17 April 2020

The LWG Chemical Management Module (CMM) is currently a standalone, optional assessment but it will be integrated into the main LWG Environmental Audit Protocol in Version 7.0, to be published later this year.   LWG is currently developing several different technical workstreams in addition to the main protocol uplift. The LWG Technical Sub-Group (TSG) completed some initial work on Protocol 7.0 in 2019 and will continue to refine the protocol document later this year.   The integration of the CMM into the main protocol will be one of the key elements of P7 and will make MRSL-related chemical management questions mandatory. Duplicative CMM questions will be removed and...

01 April 2020

During to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Leather Working Group is taking all precautions to ensure the safety of our administrative and auditors by following advice from local health authorities and the World Health Organisation.  As a result, we have offered a 3-month extension window for existing LWG members due to the travel restrictions preventing our auditors from visiting a facility onsite. We aim to give flexibility to our certified leather manufacturers as well as our auditing team. We are also in the process of investigating a temporary a remote auditing scheme, which would be available to facilities which already hold a current LWG audit certification. However,...

01 April 2020

The Leather Working Group experienced a 30% increase in members in 2019, bringing our group’s membership number to over 800 companies. As our membership grows, so too does the level of service we aim to offer our members and our scope of work. In an effort to continue offering fast, reliable and accurate support to the industry, LWG has recruited an additional member of staff.  At the end of February 2020, LWG welcomed Matt Parker, the LWG Membership Engagement Executive, to the team. Matt will be based in our head office in the UK, alongside other core members of our team that deal with audit administration, events and communication. Matt comes from a professional...

01 April 2020

Following the recent election for two brand/retailer members of the LWG Executive Committee, we are pleased to announce that LVMH have been re-elected to serve a second consecutive term and Tempe Inditex will join the committee as a new member in April 2020.  Election to the EC is on a company basis, rather than an individual one. Once elected, EC members may sit on the committee for a term of 4 years before their position is up for re-election. A sitting member of the EC may re-nominate themselves for a second term.  As we welcome Tempe Inditex to the EC, we must also say goodbye to Wolverine Worldwide. Wolverine has offered valuable input to the EC these past few years...

01 April 2020

After launching Version 3.0 of the Trader Audit Protocol in November 2019, the LWG Technical Sub-Group (TSG) turned its focus on developing a Sub-Contractor Audit (SCA). The SCA aims to give certification to those subcontracting facilities currently assessed within the scope of a tannery’s audit, using the mini audit document. This will reduce the burden on subcontractors and the LWG auditors to collect multiple sets of data or visit the same facility multiple times. Once the SCA has been finalised, we aim to publish the CETP assessment tool, which has been in development for several years. LWG has already conducted several pilots of tool and hope to make it available in the...

01 April 2020

Following the cancellation of the LWG Member Meeting in Hong Kong, we aim to provide a short online webinar to ensure all members can stay up to date with the latest developments of the LWG programme. 

During the webinar, we will go over the status of our technical developments, give a rundown on collaborative efforts with external organisations, and facilitate discussions on topical issues.

LWG will create update presentations as usual and make these available in the Member Area of the LWG website once our webinar has taken place.
Keep an eye out for registration shortly. We will be circulating an agenda soon.  
 

01 April 2020

The LWG approved auditors met in Heathrow earlier this year for two days of training on various aspects of the LWG Environmental Audit Protocol and the LWG Trader Audit Protocol. The group were also joined by representatives from ZDHC to provide training on the use of the Chemical Module within the ZDHC Gateway.

We were also pleased to be joined by the three new auditor candidates, following the period of auditor recruitment in late 2019. Our new auditors are currently undergoing the onboarding process and, pending approval of their appointment, will be available to companies wishing to book an audit shortly. These new auditors are based in Turkey, India and Taiwan, respectively.

01 April 2020

In recognition that many industry shows will be postponed or cancelled due to public health concerns, Material Exchange is offering members of the Leather Working Group a 3-month membership to their platform at no cost. During this challenging time, LWG Members will be able to upload material images and data, as well as interacting virtually with brands for free. Whilst the touch and feel of materials and face-to-face meetings are important, Material Exchange hopes that this opportunity will provide a means to show your new collection in the time needed for the season, and to support the industry until the situation eases. On the platform, LWG Members can connect directly with...

01 April 2020

Upon their completion of a successful audit under the LWG Main Environmental Audit Protocol, all LWG-certified leather manufacturers and traders are provided with a membership logo. The logo denotes the rating achieved by the leather manufacturer in their audit (gold, silver, bronze or audited) and includes their Unique Reference Number (URN). The URNs are issued to leather manufacturers and traders to identify their facility in the LWG programme. Any leather manufacturer or trader that holds a current, valid audit certificate from LWG is able to make use of this membership logo in their marketing efforts and events. Please keep in mind, when using the LWG logo for booth...

28 February 2020

*PLEASE NOTE - THIS NEWS ITEM HAS BEEN SUPERCEDED BY THE ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON 18TH MAY 2020* Taking into account the continuing concerns around the coronavirus more areas around the world are becoming affected. LWG has prepared additional guidance around audit extensions and interim measures, to further assist and support our members. Postponement requested by an LWG Auditor Any auditor who is due to conduct an audit in an area of concern is permitted to postpone the audit until such time as he/she is confident of travelling again to that region. Any company whose audit is postponed for this reason will be entitled to an “Audit Certification...