Wasted hides still equal wasted opportunities
Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA) has confirmed that the US processed 33 million head of cattle in 2020 and that 28.2 million of the hides accruing from this went into leather production, either domestically or overseas.
LHCA said that this meant 4.8 million US hides went to waste last year, 14.5% of the total.
The comparative figures for 2019 were 5.5 million hides going to waste, representing more than 16% of the total for that year.
While the volume going to waste was less in 2020, LHCA pointed out that the loss of valuable, versatile, highly functional and potentially beautiful raw material was still substantial. It said the wasted hides could have produced enough leather to make more than 85 million pairs of shoes or 1.5 million leather sofas.
