The Scottish Leather Group (SLG) is on track to achieve a reduction of more than 85% in the environmental footprint of its leather. Measuring the carbon intensity of the leather it makes as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2 eq), the group calculated 10.9 kilos of CO2 eq in 2003. In 2019, it is on track to cut this figure to 1.5 kilos.
Explaining these figures in the group’s 2019 sustainability report, Sustainability and Innovation Director, Dr Warren Bowden, said that using renewable energy had made possible what he described as a “dramatic” reduction in the carbon intensity of SLG leather. The group’s intention is to reduce this carbon intensity even further. Bowden reports that SLG has partnered SHARC Energy Systems, a renewable energy company that specialises in recovering heat from wastewater to provide heating for water and for buildings. “This will lead to the installation of a zero-carbon water heat system to meet some of our direct water and indirect space heating demands,” Dr Bowden explained. “This should lead to an even lower carbon intensity for our leather going forward.”
From leatherbiz.com