Tanning can be a dirty, resource-intensive business.
It takes a lot of water and chemicals to turn hides into soft, wearable leather. So, as we continue on our detox journey to create the world’s cleanest shoes, we’ve moved to only sourcing leather from tanneries certified by the Leather Working Group (LWG) for their social and environmental practices.
LWG-certified tanneries are the gold-standard in responsible leather, often using water-treatment solutions that reduce water and energy use, and wastewater pollution. The tannery we use in India has gone so far as to create a completely closed-loop system with zero wastewater.
Our editorial team was asked to come along on a tour of our tanning facility in India, and we jumped at the chance to learn more about what goes into making KEEN leather shoes, boots, and sandals. Here’s a little behind-the-scenes trip report:
We left Portland at 5 a.m. on a Monday. Thirty-one hours later (no joke), we landed in Chennai, India. After an amazing Indian breakfast the next morning, we piled into two cars to battle traffic to make the drive to Vellore to tour the water treatment facility used by the tannery. It was rush hour and the roads out of Chennai were crowded with pedestrians and animals, bikes and motorcycles, busses and brilliantly painted transport trucks, each with its own custom horn.
We arrived at the Ranitec water treatment facility around noon. We started where the water came in from the tanneries and followed it along its closed-loop journey. There were machines that physically separated the bio solids, open tanks bubbling with brown, frothy water, and massive settling ponds.
We toured labs and got a high-level science lesson about reverse osmosis and desalination. In short, they separate the chemicals from the water, and both are piped right back to the tanneries. The water comes out clean enough to drink (which our sustainability coworkers proudly drank and confirmed – yep. It’s clean!). After all of this, the only byproduct is salt, which gets bagged up and reused.
The next morning, after another awesome traditional breakfast, we drove to one of the leather tanneries that uses water from Ranitec. The tannery sources cow hides from around the world, including the U.S., and we were surprised to see that they are blue when they arrive.
“They’re blue because they’re pickled,” a coworker explained. “For transport overseas.”
The hides are washed and then fed through many machines – machines that remove chemicals, add chemicals, soften them up, add dyes, etc. People worked alone and in pairs at various stages of the process, manning giant wash drums, pouring things into washers, rinsing the skins, pressing them smooth and flat, hanging them to dry. Meanwhile, all that water, all those chemicals – they’re all being contained to be reused again and again.
Water and chemical usage are important aspects when it comes to minimizing the impact of tanning leather on nearby communities, but they’re not the only ones. Our Leather Working Group commitment ensures that any tannery processing leather for KEEN has gone through an environmental and social audit, focused on the below areas:
• General Facility Details
• Subcontracted Operations
• Social Audit
• Operating Permits
• Production Data
• Incoming Material Traceability
• Outgoing Material Traceability
• Environment Management Systems (EMS)
• Restricted Substances, Compliance, and Chromium VI (CrVI) Management
• Energy Consumption
• Water Usage
• Air & Noise Emissions
• Waste Management
• Effluent Treatment
• Health, Safety, & Emergency Preparedness
• Chemical Management
• Operations Management
As a shoemaker on a mission to make the most durable, longest-lasting footwear, leather is a critical part of our overall material mix. Thanks to the Leather Working Group, it’s a material we can feel good about using, so you can feel good about wearing it.
There are hundreds of choices that go into making a shoe. We think each one is a chance to lighten our impact. Learn more about what we mean when we say "Consciously Created," and the steps we’re taking to create the world’s cleanest shoes.
