What LWG Gold-rated tanneries mean for leather goods buyers

30 September 2026  ·  TARS Creations

Every leather bag or wallet begins at a tannery, and much of leather’s environmental impact is decided there. That is why the tannery behind your leather is worth asking about.

What the Leather Working Group does

The Leather Working Group (LWG) is an industry body that audits leather manufacturers and rates them on their environmental performance. Gold is among the highest ratings. The audits look at how a tannery manages water, energy, chemicals and waste, and how well it can trace its materials.

What it means for a buyer

• An independent audit backs up the tannery’s practices.
• Documented processes make it easier to answer your own customers’ questions.
• It gives you a recognised reference when you compare suppliers.

The rating belongs to the tannery

An LWG rating applies to the tannery that holds it, not to the company that makes the finished product. So a goods manufacturer should tell you which tanneries supply its leather, not simply say that its products are certified.

Questions to ask any supplier

• Which tannery makes the leather for my product?
• What is its rating, and can I see the current certificate?
• How is the leather tested against restricted substances, and are reports available?
• Can you trace the leather from hide to finished product?

How we source

Our leather comes from LWG Gold-rated tanneries of KKSK International Group (www.kksk.in). Group tannery certificates and test reports are available to buyers on request.

Related

• Zero liquid discharge, explained simply

  What it means when a tannery sends no liquid effluent outside its site, and why it matters.

• Where the energy comes from: solar and wind in leather making

  Tanning takes energy. Here is why the source of that energy matters.

• RSL and MRSL: how chemistry is controlled in leather

  Two lists, two jobs: one checks the finished leather, the other controls what goes into making it.