AQC - Association pour l'Assurance Qualité des Fabricants de Bracelets Cuir

THE EXCELLENCE IN QUALITY SECURITY FOR LEATHER BRACELETS

Dernière Nouvelle :

AQC signes the "Stakeholder Joint Statement on Durability in the A&F PEFCR" (read here)

Media

Alligator mississippiensis - Key Facts

AMERCIAN ALLIGATOR
AQC members' alligator bracelets are made exclusively from Alligator mississippiensis, commonly known as the “American alligator”, because it is native to the United States. The skins used to make the bracelets come mainly from Louisiana, but also from Georgia, Texas and Florida in smaller quantities.

CITES
In 1979, CITES listed the Alligator mississippiensis in Appendix II, authorising its worldwide trade under strict regulations. American alligators are still listed on Appendix II because of their similarity to other endangered or threatened crocodilian species. Thanks to the universal CITES marking rule, American alligators are recognised as one of the most traceable species.

The mapping of the supply chain of AQC Members identifies the 15 alligator farms supplying the skins used for the bracelets. 100% of these farms are certified, mostly by the ICFA and also by the SRCP. It is important to note that both certifications guarantee that the slaughter of reptiles complies with Chapter 7.14 ‘Killing of reptiles for their skin, meat and other products’ of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

2 MILLION IN THE WILD

Whereas in the 1960s, American alligators were threatened by unregulated hunting, today the population has fully recovered. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) reports that Louisiana's wild alligator population has grown to more than 2 million over the past 50 years. There are also nearly one million alligators on Louisiana farms’. In addition, the LDWF ‘strictly manages the American alligator as a commercial and renewable natural resource’. The American alligator is not only a resource for its skin, but also for its meat, which is sold in supermarkets. It should also be noted that the pharmaceutical industry uses various parts of the animal after slaughter, including the bones.

The alligator industry, which includes farmers, landowners, tanners, traders, manufacturers, brands and retail shops, accounts for almost 20,000 jobs in the United States.

WETLANDS - CRUCIAL ROLE

85% of Louisiana's wetlands are privately owned. Due to the high number of hurricanes that cause erosion, disrupt water flow and ultimately threaten habitats, landowners depend on their income to keep their land in its most natural form. Alligator farmers buy alligator eggs from landowners, which provides a direct financial incentive and encourages wetland maintenance and restoration projects.

American alligators breed mainly in the wild (not on farms).

According to Science, wetlands store 20% of the organic carbon in the world's ecosystems, despite covering only 1% of the earth's surface. ‘However, the capacity of wetlands to store carbon depends on feedbacks between vegetation and geomorphology that allow wetlands to continue to develop over long periods. When these feedbacks are interrupted, wetlands can become sources of carbon’ (WEF).

IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature
IUCN letter to luxury CEOs in 2020: ‘The benefits that the trade in precious and exotic skins brings to nature and people, and to the adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, are supported by scientific evidence. This trade is one of the great conservation success stories of our time. Species that were once close to extinction have recovered and are now the subject of meticulous management.

IUCN Redlist

Alligator mississippiensis: minor concern = neither endangered nor threatened

THE END OF THE CALIFORNIA BAN :

ICFA

SRCP

Alligator Intelligence

Bovine Leather

Linkedin publication by COTANCE - November 2024

If skins are not turned into leather, they end up in landfill sites, where they rot naturally. Many people are unaware that the decomposition of animal matter produces greenhouse gases. Similarly, unwanted skins left to rot on landfill sites produce these emissions. Worldwide, up to 40% of cattle hides, or 134 million hides a year, are lost.

We in the leather industry know that this is a sad waste of natural and renewable resources and has a significant impact on the environment. However, the latest analysis by the LHCA (Leather and Hide Council of America) shows that the impact is much greater than previously thought. We had underestimated this figure by a factor of 8 !

Using the ReFED impact calculator, the LHCA found that one tonne of hides in a landfill generates more than 13 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. On a global scale, discarded hides thus contribute to more than 40 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions each year (link LHCA article)

To put this into perspective:

The equivalent of the annual emissions from 8.7 million cars.
Comparable to the CO₂ absorbed by 660 million trees in 10 years.
Comparable to feeding 5 million homes for a year.

But the story doesn't end there:

By processing the 334 million hides produced annually worldwide and sustainably storing the CO₂ in the leather, we could avoid some 100 million tonnes of CO₂e per year, generating just 13.3* million tonnes of CO₂e emissions (*using the average Eco2L/GreenDeal value for cattle leather).

In addition, all the leather grains and rinds produced could replace up to 3 billion m² of fossil fuel-based fashion materials, which also contribute to climate change. Turning hides into leather is part of the solution in the fight against climate change.

LWG - Higg MSI update - October 2024

Link to LWG publication HERE

Leather Working Group (LWG) and Leather Naturally announce that a combined data submission by SPIN360 from their respective Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies has been adopted as the new average for bovine leather by the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI).

The new dataset, included in the October 2024 update of the Higg MSI, results in the environmental impacts of bovine leather being between 55% and 67% lower than the previous MSI value for leather. The global warming potential, which previously showed an impact of 36.8 points on the Higg MSI scale, is reduced by 60% to 14.6 points. This significant change helps to move things forward, promoting a more nuanced understanding of bovine leather as a sustainable material choice.

This global effort was led by SPIN360, which used data collected from 45 manufacturing plants in 18 countries and evaluated 92 leather products with the aim of providing a global representation of bovine leather. It covers the main end-use sectors for leather, including footwear, automotive, leather goods and furniture.