The president of the Leather and Hide Council of America, Kerry Brozyna, has said sourcing tool the Higg Material Sustainability Index (MSI) is partly to blame for the current low demand for leather.

Speaking at the Tanning Industry Leadership Summit in Shanghai in early September, Mr Brozyna said that the leather industry has been struggling since the covid-19 pandemic because of low demand. He added that inaccurate figures the Higg MSI published in 2020 for leather’s carbon footprint had unfairly affected consumer attitudes towards leather.

In spite of a steady and substantial fall in hide prices over a number of years now, low consumer demand for leather means there has, as yet, been no turnaround in the industry’s fortunes.

“There are many factors,” Mr Brozyna said at the summit, “but the Higg has definitely contributed to this.”

He pointed out that there is low consumer understanding of where leather comes from and how tanners make it.

This has resulted in an increase in the use of synthetic alternatives. “Synthetics are eating our lunch,” the LHCA president said. “They are cheap, available and falsely presented as being better for the environment than leather.”