ILM and BLC Leather Technology Centre co-organised a half-day conference aimed at providing information to brands and retailers that use leather. A broad range of topics and speakers provided recent advances in sustainability in the industry. The Leather & Sustainability in Retail conference took place in central London on December 9. Over 100 delegates listened to seven speakers during the conference, which took place at the global headquarters of luxury brand, Burberry in central London. As well as the official launch of the Leather MRSL from the ZDHC Foundation (click here) and an outline of Kering Group’s Environmental Profit & Loss study (click here) a wide range of other topics were covered. These included presentations on animal welfare, alternative chemistries for leather production, innovating processes to cut leather waste, sustainable leather manufacturing and information related to moving towards a circular economy. A full report will be published in the next edition of ILM. Around 70% of delegates represented brands and retailers involved in the leather supply chain along with tanners, leather chemical and machinery makers and consultants. The conference was sponsored by Lectra and Stahl.
