commonly

Longevity beats biodegradability

I was involved in a webinar on sustainability four weeks ago and I hope a few people watched. I tried to make two points. First that as a science based industry we have a responsibility to properly define what we are talking about and not lapse into the "greenwash" associated with terms such as "organic", "heavy metal" and "toxic". Secondly, I made the point that if we interrogate the definition of sustainability from the Brundtland Report, which is still the one most commonly used, leather is properly sustainable. This is the case as long as we make it properly, take responsibility for our tannery wastes and treat workers correctly, including providing proper work wear etc.