How is leather a sustainable material?

Leather is a very durable material. When it's used to make quality items, it can last for years, even generations.

Leather goods can be repaired, resold, and/or recycled when we no longer have use for them. It's
a material that can biodegrade in 10 to 50 years, depending on how it is tanned. Evolving farming, cattle grazing, and tanning practices are improving and being graded on environmental policies and procedures, energy consumption, water usage, air and noise emissions, waste management, and worker safety.

Alexandra Pelka: environmental sustainability professor and researcher from AP Projects, a European consultancy firm that specializes in sustainability, ESG (Environmental, social, and corporate governance), and supply chain management who visited SAPICA 2024 ( large footwear/leather conference in Guanajuato) to speak on the topic of sustainability. Some of her notes are below:

• Pelka emphasized that "sustainability is more than planting trees or recycling bottles.”…”It is something you carry in your heart, something you need to believe in to grow, to implement it and above all, to show your clients that you care.”
• Pelka applauded the leather industry for both ‘upcycling practices’ (utilizing leather skins
  predominantly from the meat industry), and for being in opposition to ‘fast fashion’. Citing her own 45 year old handbag as an example that “leather is not part of this ‘disposable trend’, as
  leather goods are made to last”.
• Tanneries in León, Guanajuato, Mexico set an example for sustainability. According to the Chamber of Commerce for the Tannery Industry (CICUR), currently: 60% of the leather created in León is processed with “treated water”; meaning the water is “recycled” and approved for industrial use, leaving drinking water safe for human consumption.