Raw Materials

Leather is a by-product - the basis of the UK leather industry is cattle and sheep, which are reared specifically for the production of meat, wool and dairy products. The value of cattle hides and sheep skins represents in the region of 5-10% of the market value of an animal.

The leather industry utilises hides and skins which would, if the industry did not exist to process them, create an enormous waste disposal problem with the attendant health hazards.

Leather is a renewable natural resource - if leather was not produced, it would have to be replaced be synthetic materials derived from non-renewable resources.