In recent months, the Leather Naturally Impact Team has been working on a new Report about Sustainable Water Management in the Leather Industry.
Co-authors include Aukje Berden, Global ESG Director, Smit & Zoon; Kim Sena, Sustainability Director, JBS Couros & Life Cycle Assessment Leader; and Camille Mori, Chief Sustainability Officer at PrimeAsia Leather Company.
The in-depth Guide aims to provide stakeholders in the leather value chain with the knowledge and tools to understand, interpret, and work together on sustainable water management.
Here, Aukje Berden explains the background behind the report and how adopting sustainable water management practices, the leather industry can reduce its environmental impact, enhance long-term resilience, and support global water security.
Aukje Berden, Leather Naturally Impact Team
“For decades, water has been treated as a given in leather manufacturing — an abundant, invisible input that quietly enabled quality, consistency, and scale. That era is over.
Today, I believe water has become the single most strategic issue facing the leather industry. Not just as a resource, but as a lens through which our environmental credibility, operational resilience, and long-term viability will be measured.
This is not simply about using less water. It’s about rethinking how we value, measure, and manage it — across the entire value chain.
From Input to Strategic Priority
Water is fundamental to leather making. It shapes the material at every stage, from raw hide to finished product. But what was once a technical necessity is now a systemic risk.
Climate change is tightening freshwater availability. Droughts are more frequent. Competing demands from agriculture, communities, and industry are intensifying. In many regions where leather production is concentrated, water stress is no longer hypothetical — it is operational reality.
The implication is clear: water can no longer be treated as a background variable. It must be actively managed as a core business priority.
The Measurement Problem — and Why It Matters
One of the most persistent challenges I see across the industry is confusion around water metrics. We often talk about “water use” as if it tells the whole story. It doesn’t.
There is a critical distinction between water use — the volume withdrawn — and water consumption — the portion that is not returned to the system. Without this clarity, we risk misinterpreting impact and misdirecting action. Put simply: you cannot manage what you do not measure correctly.
This is why robust KPIs, transparent reporting, and alignment with frameworks like ISO 14046 and GRI 303 are not administrative burdens — they are strategic enablers. They allow us to move from assumptions to evidence, from claims to credibility.
The Danger of Single-Issue Thinking
In recent years, sustainability conversations have become increasingly reductionist. Water is often singled out as a headline metric — sometimes without context.
Our Life Cycle Assessment work reinforces a more nuanced reality: water impacts in leather are distributed across the entire lifecycle, with significant contributions upstream in agriculture and downstream in processing.
At the same time, leather’s durability, longevity, and repairability fundamentally change its environmental profile compared to alternative materials.
The takeaway is not that water doesn’t matter — it absolutely does. But it cannot be evaluated in isolation. Real sustainability leadership requires a multi-dimensional perspective — one that considers water alongside energy, chemicals, waste, durability, and end-of-life outcomes.
What Progress Actually Looks Like
Encouragingly, progress is already happening — and often faster than expected. Across the industry, I’ve seen tangible results from:
Process optimisation and recipe redesign
Closed-loop and recycling systems
Advanced wastewater treatment technologies
Real-time monitoring and data-driven decision-making
In some cases, these interventions have reduced water use by 30–40% or more. That is not incremental change — it is transformation. But what stands out most is not any single technology. It’s the shift in mindset. The most successful organisations treat water management as a system, not a series of isolated fixes.
The Barriers We Can’t Ignore
Despite progress, the path forward is not frictionless. Water-intensive processes, regulatory complexity, high capital costs, and inconsistent data infrastructure all present real challenges — particularly for smaller players in the value chain.
There is also a human dimension that is often underestimated. Sustainable water management is not just technical; it is cultural. It requires awareness, accountability, and capability at every level of an organisation.
If we fail to address these barriers holistically, progress will remain uneven.
Why Collaboration Is No Longer Optional
One of the clearest lessons from this work is that no single actor can solve this alone.Tanneries can optimise processes. Chemical suppliers can innovate formulations. Brands can influence demand and set expectations. Policymakers can create enabling frameworks.
But the real impact happens when these efforts are aligned.
Water does not respect organisational boundaries — and neither can our solutions.
Equally important are the voices outside the industry: communities, NGOs, and local stakeholders. Water stewardship ultimately exists to protect shared resources. Without inclusive dialogue, we risk designing solutions that are technically sound but socially disconnected.
A Defining Moment for the Industry
The leather industry is at an inflection point. We can continue to treat water as a compliance issue — something to manage at the margins. Or we can recognise it for what it truly is: a strategic opportunity to redefine how we operate, collaborate, and create value.
The path forward is clear to me. It involves:
Measuring what matters
Acting on data, not assumptions
Investing in innovation
Embedding accountability across the value chain
And placing water stewardship at the centre of decision-making
If we do this well, the outcome is not just reduced impact. It is a more resilient, credible, and future-ready industry. Water has always shaped leather. Now, it will shape its future”.
京公网安备 11010202009378号
