JBS Couros, the largest leather processor in the world, presented a new product at the APLF fair in Hong Kong: the responsible leather Kind Leather. The new line reaches the market after more than two years of research and development, guided by the current demands and future requirements of consumers for the product. “Kind Leather comes with the proposal to revolutionize the industry by changing the way leather is produced in the world, in addition to seeking an ever closer relationship with the consumer”, explains Roberto Motta, president of JBS Couros. With a more efficient format and innovative production process, the new leather will offer industry and society a series of relevant environmental, social and economic benefits through the intelligent use of raw materials and resources. “Leather is a product of high durability and of organic origin. But what makes Kind Leather a really sustainable product is the way it is processed, using only the parts of the skin that are most appropriate for leather. Thus, we were able to produce a product of even more quality while avoiding waste and using fewer products for the treatment of the skin ”, explains Fernando Bellese, Marketing and Sustainability manager at JBS Couros.
In addition, Kind Leather has another sustainable factor associated with it: a complete traceability program, which gathers data referring to all stages of the leather production process, from the origin on the farm to the final product. JBS Couros is the only company in the sector to have this visibility on the production chain, on a large scale. For combining a solid leather traceability program with a modern monitoring system that monitors and verifies that the activities of its more than 80 thousand cattle suppliers in Brazil comply with the socio-environmental criteria determined by the Company’s Responsible Purchase Policy for Raw Material. The system ranges from operations in areas free of deforestation of native forests, on indigenous lands, of environmental conservation or that are embargoed by the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), to the use of regular labor, not characterized as childish or slave-like.
The change in the production process also guarantees greater productivity in finishing plants and cutting machines, skins with better use and better ergonomic working conditions. Productivity tests carried out by JBS Couros in partnership with companies involved in leather cutting, for example, with a focus on the automotive market, showed a superior skin yield of up to 10 percentage points compared to the traditional format of the sector. Another benefit of sustainable leather is the use of important parts of the skin in natura, which were previously discarded or destined for the manufacture of items of lower added value, after their processing, and which have another destination: they can be used in manufacturing food items, such as bovine collagen, as well as health and beauty products.
The Kind Leather brand
The Kind Leather line logo combines representations of nature with the new leather cutting characteristics. “Our goal is to demonstrate that the product has sustainability in its DNA. The brand is a new way of representing this noble and ancient raw material ”, explains Bellese. The executive also says that the brand’s next step is to seek strategic partners who share the same principles and objectives as JBS Couros to take Kind Leather to the final consumer.
- 65% reduction in CO2 emissions, in the transport of wet-blue leathers, by reducing the number of carts needed to transport the product;
- 54.2% reduction in water consumption and 20% in energy consumption in the tanning stage;
- 28% reduction in the use of finishing products;
- Up to 45% reduction in the generation of refill residues in leather cut lines;
