VF hits target of 100% LWG tanneries for footwear
US outdoor and sportswear group VF Corp has hit its target of using 100% Leather Working Group-audited tanneries for footwear leather by 2021.
VF brand Timberland was one of LWG’s founding partners in 2005.
VF said: “Timberland and VF are working with LWG to develop innovative chemistries that will further reduce the impact of the leather supply chain on people and the planet.”
The group’s newly published Made for Change sustainability and responsibility report also contains updates on its leather strategies and progress made in financial year 2020 (April, 2019 – March, 2020).
These include Timberland’s collection of boots made with leather from regenerative ranches, sourced in partnership with the Savory Institute. It co-funded the Ecological Outcome Verification process that helps to measure regenerative benefits at Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed ranches. Timberland will expand its sourcing of regenerative leather and intends to launch regenerative pilots for natural rubber, cotton and sugar cane.
VF also outlines its decision to stop sourcing leather from Brazil. It said: “Through our traceability team’s due diligence programme, we identified potential environmental risks associated with sourcing leather from Brazil linked to deforestation in the Amazon Biome. As a result of tracing our entire leather supply chain, we were no longer satisfactorily assured that our de minimis volume of leather purchased from Brazilian suppliers upheld our commitments. We made the enterprise-wide decision to stop sourcing leather for international products from Brazil until we have the confidence and assurance that the materials used in our products do not contribute to environmental harm.”
