Leather Working Group (LWG) was formed in 2005 when a group of brands and leather manufacturers came together with the common objective of reducing the environmental impact of the leather industry. Today it works with stakeholders that include brands, leather manufacturers and NGOs towards that common aim.

The LWG sets an Audit Standard against which leather manufacturers can be assessed and certified. It is central to our objective of measuring and recognising good practice and driving improvements in the leather industry.

As a working group we are driven by our common objective to continually raise the bar and drive continuous improvement in the industry. To that end, the LWG standard is constantly evolving with active engagement and expert input from our stakeholders.

Collaboration and consultation also enable us to support broader initiatives such as the critical topics of traceability and deforestation due diligence within the value chain.

LWG is a membership-based organisation and relies on the support and funding from our members to continue our work.

LWG is not paid to carry out audits on behalf of its members or the leather manufacturers themselves, rather assessments against the LWG Standard are carried out by independent third-party auditors with LWG receiving only an administration fee, (currently £300).

LWG is governed by an elected Board of stakeholder representatives, that provides balanced and independent oversight of the organisation. The Board representatives are made up of four tanneries, four brands and one supplier. Each is elected for a term of four years and may stand for reelection for a second term, after which they must stand down.

LWG’s work has created a better understanding of the leather industry and value chain and usedthat to define and set the goals that have driven improvements towards more sustainablepractices, such as reducing water usage and energy consumption, more responsible chemical management, and improved health and safety of workers. Over time, individual manufacturersreport lower energy and water consumption and have made changes to their internal practices.
 
LWG has facilitated greater data transparency between brands and their suppliers through the development and introduction of a Supplier Scorecard that allows brands to access the result of its supplier audit performance in each section directly from the LWG website. LWG commissioned its own LCA to give a better understanding of the average impacts of tanneries audited against its standard. The full version of this report is available to LWG brand members and stakeholders.

Working in collaboration with industry group Leather Naturally and the organisation SPIN 360, LWG submitted a revised dataset for Bovine (cow) Leather to the Higg MSI. The new dataset, included in the October 2024 update of the Higg MSI, resulted in the environmental impacts of bovine leather being between 55% and 67% lower than the previous MSI values. For example, Global Warming Potential, (GWP) which previously showed an impact of 36.8 points on the Higg MSI scale, was reduced by 60% to 14.6 points. This significant shift advanced real change, promoting a more nuanced understanding of bovine leather as a sustainable material choice.

First launched in 2005, the LWG Audit Standard is an international certification standard for environmentally and socially accountable leather manufacturing. The audit is a comprehensive assessment of how a tannery measures, controls and reports the impact of their manufacturing operations.  

It is the longest running standard specialised for the leather industry and subject to continuous review and revision in consultation with industry experts and our stakeholder group.

The LWG Audit includes 17 separate sections focused on the key areas that impact a manufacturer’s performance, including: 

• Water & Energy Usage 
• Environmental Management 
• Chemical Management  
• Waste Management & Effluent Treatment 
• Health & Safety and Housekeeping 
• Learn more about the LWG Audit Remit

The audit is a complex assessment that takes account of multiple factors, but in summary, companies are awarded a rating in each section against a minimum threshold score

85% for Gold,
75% for Silver,
65% for Bronze
50% for Audited

To achieve its final reported medal rating a manufacturer must achieve that rating across all categories, otherwise it is certified at the level of the lowest category. For example, a manufacturer that achieves gold certification will have achieved Gold in each scored section, if a manufacturer has achieved a mix of ratings across bronze, silver and gold, its final certification will be Bronze.

Companies that do not meet the minimum threshold requirements will not pass the audit.

The four standards are: Leather Manufacturer, Commissioning Manufacturer, Trader and Subcontractor.

Only Leather Manufactures and Commissioning Manufacturers are awarded medal ratings if achieved during the audit. If these sites pass the audit but do not achieve a rating, they are awarded a certification against the LWG Standard as Audited meaning that although they have passed the audit, they have not yet achieved a medal rating.

Traders are rated as Approved when certified against the LWG Standard.

Subcontractors are again rated as Audited when certified against the LWG Standard.

LWG does not undertake audits but approves independent auditors who are trained to conduct audits using the LWG Audit Protocol. Only these approved auditors can conduct an LWG Audit and submit an audit report to the LWG Assurance team, where they are also subject to further peer review.

Yes, the audit assessments are conducted in the same way, to the same standard regardless of a site’s location. As a minimum, leather manufacturers audited under the LWG Audit Standard are expected to comply with their local, regional and national legislation.

The original Audit Protocol was developed by brands and leather manufacturers, with input from NGO’s such as WWF and Greenpeace. It is regularly updated to ensure it remains relevant and considers industry need and evolution, as well as providing the mechanism for gradual improvement.

The scoring system for the original versions of the protocol was based on several benchmark studies undertaken by BLC Leather Technology Centre Ltd and involved over 40 tanneries in five leather manufacturing sectors around the world. It aims to reflect environmental impact and has drawn on published data such as the European Commission Reference Document ‘Best Available
 Techniques for the Tanning of Hides and Skins’ (May 2001) and United Nations Document US/RAS/92/120/11-51 ‘The scope for decreasing pollution load in leather processing’.

The later versions of the protocol have incorporated the data gathered during previous audits and the scores have been determined by a panel representing tanners, brands and auditors thereby ensuring that the protocol is an accurate reflection of what is both feasible and attainable by a tannery.

Certification is valid for 24 months for leather manufacturing facilities, commissioning manufacturers and subcontractors, and 12 months for part-processed material traders.

No, being LWG certified does not guarantee that there will be no RSL failures in a final product. It reduces the likelihood of an RSL failure, but it is not impossible.  

For context, the LWG Audit assesses whether a tannery has an internal RSL or RSLs provided by customers, how often they are reviewed and test against, as well as if there is evidence of conformance to their customer’s RSLs.

The LWG Audit is not an assessment of legal compliance and does not grant a company a legal operating permit. Any company that does not having valid legal operating permits will automatically fail their audit.

The audit assesses the leather manufacturers ability to trace its material back to a specific slaughterhouse. This is rated separately from the environmental score and shown as a percentage for both physical traceability and documentation.

In terms of best practice, the LWG assess a leather manufacturer’s ability to trace their material back to the slaughterhouse of origin through physical marking.

However, the nature of the agricultural sector in some regions of the world means that there may be no formal, industrialised slaughter — thereby impacting the ability of tanneries in those regions to trace their material in their supply chain back. In recognition of this, LWG uses a weighted scoring mechanism for incoming materials. 

Traceability in the leather supply chain offers significant benefits for brands, manufacturers, and consumers. With a transparent, fully traceable supply chain, companies can better identify material quality issues, detect illegal activities or poor practices, and verify material origin. Understanding material provenance also supports effective management of upstream issues, such as deforestation risks.

The LWG Environmental Audit is used to assess the environmental performance of a tannery’s manufacturing processes and as such it does not audit slaughterhouses, direct or indirect farms. The audit looks at companies making leather from start (raw hide) to finish (finished leather, sold onto a shoe manufacturer, for example).

There is an assessment of emergency plans which includes a limited assessment of the provision of health and safety equipment, along with assessment of chemical health & safety for workers, PPE and safe machinery.

The LWG Leather Manufacturer Audit (P7) includes a dedicated section on social auditing, recognising social responsibility as a fundamental aspect of sustainability. In order to support ingoing industry initiatives striving for alignment in social auditing, while minimising duplication, LWG acknowledges and accepts leading social audits conducted by third-party providers.

Learn more

The LWG Leather Manufacturer Audit was initially developed to audit tanneries producing bovine (cow) leather. As LWG has grown, the audit protocol has expanded its scope to also assess tanneries that produce leather of caprine (goat), porcine (pig) and ovine (sheep) origin, with some exotic materials too.

LWG considers exotic materials as those that are covered by legislation or agreements such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).   Certification of exotic tanneries is dependent upon approval by LWG if the animal from which the skin is obtained is: 

• Classed as exotic 
• Subject to controls as described by CITES 
• Not farmed 
• Not part of the human food chain. 

The LWG Audit does not cover the production of fur.

The LWG Leather Manufacturer Audit Standard considers sustainably sourced renewable energy from wood, tallow and biomass, as well as energy, self-generated through means such as wind turbines, solar panels, and geothermal wells.

The greater the effort that a tanner takes to reduce environmental impacts whether by reducing usage of environmental resources such as water or energy, or by reducing the level of emissions to the environment gaseous, solid or liquid, the higher will be the score on the assessment.

The score is based on emissions to the environment whether that is from the tannery’s own system or a common or municipal system.

The quality of the final effluent is assessed as part of the audit which means the efficiency of a CETP could affect the scores achieved by the Leather Manufacturing Facility. CETPs are not audited but third-party evidence of CETP performance will be required as part of the audit.

The audit protocol has a section that identifies previous violations and scores the Leather Manufacturing Facility accordingly. Violations are declared by the leather maker at the time of the audit. The audit is a two-day snapshot in time and not live reporting. Any subsequent violations or warnings will be scored during the next audit.

If a leather manufacturer is seen to have persistent problems or a major violation, then their certification may be suspended by the auditing body or the LWG Executive Committee depending on the circumstance.

Currently the audit requires leather manufacturers to comply with local legislation, identify emission points and have appropriate control devices. VOC and ammonia are specifically covered in relation to Health & Safety and, emissions and carbon footprint.

Due to the batch nature of leather processing, it is impossible to guarantee that chrome VI or any form of RSL failure will not occur. However, in general terms by their nature, the LWG rated tanneries will tend to have a more thorough understanding of their critical processes and more consistent approach to production control and therefore present a lower risk.

There are four types of LWG Audits:

• Leather Manufacturer
• Leather Trader
• Commissioning Manufacturer
• Subcontractor

LWG certification for each is achieved through successful completion of the relevant LWG Audit, conducted by an LWG-Approved Auditor. Find out more.

To book an audit, please contact an approved LWG auditor. 

The Tannery of the Future self-assessment tool was create for leather manufacturers in order to understand what is involved if they are ready for an audit. You can download it here.
 
In addition, you can contact an LWG approved auditor to engage them and request more information on the LWG Leather Manufacturer Audit Protocol and Guidance Document from them.

Deforestation is the large-scale clearing, removing, or thinning of forests, primarily caused by human activities such as agriculture, logging, and urban development. It often involves cutting down trees or burning forested areas to convert the land for other uses, such as farming, cattle ranching, or infrastructure projects.

This process has significant environmental impacts, including:

1. Loss of biodiversity: Forests are home to a vast number of species; deforestation disrupts habitats leading to a decline in biodiversity.
2. Climate change: Trees absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂), a greenhouse gas. Removing forests releases this CO₂, contributing to global warming.
3. Soil degradation: Trees play a crucial role in maintaining soil quality and preventing erosion. Without them, the land becomes more prone to erosion, landslides, and nutrient loss.
4. Water cycle disruption: Forests help regulate the water cycle by absorbing and releasing water. Deforestation can disrupt rainfall patterns, leading to drier climates and affecting local and global weather.

As part of the European Green Deal and the 2030 EU Biodiversity Strategy, the European Commission adopted on May 16, 2023, a new regulation to curb EU-driven deforestation and forest degradation. As of November 2024, this legislation has been delayed for twelve months to allow more time for better preparation of infrastructure and reporting methods. It is due to come into force in December 2025 for large companies, June 2026 for small-medium companies.
 
The regulation sets rules for companies and traders producing products for the EU (or for export from the EU) linked to the commodities of soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa, coffee, and rubber and specific derived products including leather, chocolate, and furniture. Learn more about the EUDR.

Leather is a by-product of the meat and dairy industry and as such does not directly drive deforestation. However, many companies are seeking to encourage more sustainable practices right through their leather value chain, making this an important consideration for the industry.

Learn more about deforestation.

There are other global territories such as Australia where World Wildlife Fund have reported issues with deforestation, however Brazil has been an area of focus on this issue. In addition there are other regions mainly in South America such as the Cerredo biome and Paraguay Chaco where there is concern over levels of deforestation and links to farming. 

LWG currently has due diligence requirements for sites sourcing from both Brazil and Paraguay however this is constantly under review and the scope of this may be extended according to expert NGO advice.

The LWG audit does not include farm-level assessment but evaluates leather processing sites across various sustainability criteria, including environmental management, chemical use, water and energy efficiency, waste management, social compliance, and traceability.

Traceability within the audit focuses on tracking materials back to the slaughterhouse or equivalent stage, with added monitoring for hides sourced from deforestation-risk areas like Brazil and Paraguay.

Deforestation-free leather however is an important aim for LWG, our Standard Development Programme is consulting on incorporating it into a future evolution of the standard, and members received regular updates and webinars on the topic. Learn more about our work on deforestation due diligence and deforestation-free aims.

The LWG audit includes additional due diligence requirements for hides sourced from Brazil and Paraguay to ensure suppliers are not involved in deforestation or encroachment on indigenous lands and protected areas within the Amazon and Paraguayan Chaco biomes.

Certified sites must, at a minimum, provide a compliance declaration, but higher scores are awarded for additional evidence, such as IBAMA reports, meatpacker monitoring documentation, or third-party reports. These traceability requirements were developed with input from WWF and NWF, both of which have extensive experience in reducing deforestation in Brazil.

If an allegation is made it is important, in the first instance to work closely with the supply chain to understand the specific data that can be provided to address any allegations.

The Deforestation-Free Call to Action for Leather is a collaborative initiative between LWG, Textile Exchange and World Wildlife Fund that calls upon brands and retailers to commit to sourcing all their bovine leather from deforestation-free supply chains by 2030 or earlier.

The guidelines were developed in consultation with WWF, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), and the Accountability Framework initiative (AFi). The initiative sets clear expectations for brands, providing them with tools and guidance to support them on the journey.  Learn more.

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a comprehensive methodology used to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product throughout its entire life cycle.

The LCA considers a cradle to factory gate scope (to finished leather), with primary data being collected for the raw hide to finished leather part of the supply chain, and secondary datasets being used to account for impacts upstream of the slaughterhouse.

Most of the tanning methods considered reflect the current reality, (that is, most leather production is chrome tanned) but we did also study glutaraldehyde (chrome free) as one of the product families.

The work has been broken down by impact centre (tanning, retanning, etc.) and aspect (water, thermal energy, etc.)

A full copy of the LWG LCA is available in the user area of our website for all members and stakeholders.

LWG brand members are authorised to use the LWG logo to communicate that the company is committed to sourcing its leather from facilities that are audited against the LWG Audit Standard. This means that they support manufacturers that are accountable, measurable and dedicated to ongoing improvement.

They may only do this on a particular product if all the leather in that product was sourced from an LWG-certified tannery. (It is important to understand that it is the facility that made the leather that carries the certification, not the product.)

The LWG audit assesses how tanneries manage, monitor, and report their environmental impact, it does not include full-product assessment or like-for-like comparative testing of materials. For that reason use of these terms is discouraged and enforced by regulation related to greenwashing to provide consumers with transparent information about the products they buy.

No, hides and skins are a by-product from animals raised for food and this accounts for 99% of the world’s leather.
The main sources of animal hides are:

Cattle - 69%;
Sheep - 13%;
Goats -11%,
Pigs -6%.

If not used for leather, these hides and skins would go to waste, and contribute to landfill.

The top three leather producing countries by volume are Italy, China, and Brazil but leather is made in almost every country across the world as geographically close leather production remains an important part of the supply chain for many businesses.

General care information for leather is readily available online, however If your item was not supplied with care instructions, in the first instance reach out to either the retailer or the brands for guidance that is specific to that leather and/or product.

Vegetable tanning is the oldest tanning method, it uses extracts from wood, and nuts of trees and shrubs. Responsible suppliers will ensure these are from a sustainable source. It usually takes longer to tan leather using this method, but the result is a leather with distinctive aesthetic and handle one that ages well.

About 75% of leather made today is chrome tanned using trivalent Chrome III (CrIII) Best practice requires fewer chemicals than other methods, producing effluent content below legal requirements. Chrome tanning produces consistent leathers that can be used or worn year after year without any loss of properties.

Other tanning methods that are not either chrome or vegetable tanned are known by different labels but are usually grouped and referred to as ‘Chrome-Free’.

The most common is the aldehyde tanning that utilises glutaraldehyde. Leathers made with this tanning agent require relatively more chemicals after tanning to improve the leather properties. For this reason, the effluent of chrome-free process will require additional treatment before it can be discharged.

‘Vegan leather’ is a marketing term that is used to describe any material that is not of animal origin, including PU, plastic, vinyl and alternative materials that are described as plant-based.

If the origin of the materials used in the products you buy is important to you, look for the composition label, which in many countries by law, will list all the component parts of the material/s used.