Our Leather: Sustainable & 100% Certified!

Why is high-quality genuine leather the best material for our products?

At Snekkerbuks , our business model is based on sustainability and circular economy practices. We’ve made it our goal to offer our customers products with the smallest possible environmental footprint. How do we do that?

In this article, we address frequently asked questions about our most important material: sustainable leather. What makes leather “sustainable,” how do we ensure quality through leather certifications, and why is sustainably produced genuine leather a more suitable material for our products than faux leather or vegan leather? 

Overview:

1. Leather is durable and timeless.

2. Leather is easy to recycle.

3. Leather is a renewable resource and is 100% biodegradable.

4. The Comparison: Genuine Leather vs. Vegan Leather vs. Faux Leather.

5. Sustainable leather production and certification.

6. Transparency regarding materials and production.

1. Leather is durable and timeless 

Leather products are generally more durable than their synthetic and vegan alternatives. High-quality leather items are also water- and stain-resistant —they can withstand years of even heavy use. This makes them the ideal material for our punching bags, children’s leather pants, and backpacks, which are designed to last a lifetime.

Leather actually becomes more beautiful over time: it develops a patina, the colors become richer and deeper, and the material becomes softer. To achieve this, however, it’s important to take good care of leather products, as explained in our leather care tips .

Durability conserves resources, because the longer a product lasts, the less needs to be manufactured and purchased. 

At the same time, unlike other materials, leather is always in style: leather goods have a timeless appeal and are less susceptible to short-lived fashion trends than other materials. Yet another reason to buy fewer replacements!

2. Leather can be easily repaired and recycled 

If a product does happen to break, leather is easy to repair and can be recycled indefinitely. Old leather bags are turned into new ones, backpacks are turned into laptop bags… there are no limits to creativity, and this way, the material stays in circulation even longer. 

3. Leather is a renewable resource and 100% biodegradable

Sustainable leather is made from animal hides, which are byproducts of meat and dairy production. Instead of letting this valuable resource go to waste, we process high-quality German organic leather, thereby promoting the responsible use of a raw material that would otherwise end up as waste. Unfortunately, half of all animal hides worldwide are incinerated due to a lack of demand. 

In contrast, plant-based leather alternatives such as pineapple leather (Piñatex), apple leather, mushroom leather (Mylo), or cactus leather (Desserto) offer an animal-free option. However, these materials largely contain synthetic components such as polyurethane (PU) to ensure durability. PU is a petroleum-based product and is therefore non-renewable.

When a leather product is eventually disposed of, unlike synthetic materials, it is completely biodegradable. As an organic product, it simply breaks down over time and does not contribute to the problem of microplastic pollution. 

4. Genuine Leather vs. Faux Leather vs. Vegan Leather Alternatives

Many people are now opting for vegan or faux leather products, as these seem at first glance to be the more sustainable option . As mentioned earlier, this is not necessarily the case: “Traditional” faux leather is made from PVC film, so it is made of plastic.

Vegan leather alternatives are synthetic leather materials that are partly made from bio-based raw materials such as mushrooms, leaves, pineapple, or cactus. However, this is only partly true: a large portion still consists of synthetic binders, which are neither renewable nor biodegradable. Furthermore, innovation in the field of vegan leather alternatives is still in the testing and experimentation phase. This means that most of these alternatives do not reliably possess all the properties that make leather such an ideal material for our products: durable, robust, water-repellent, and recyclable. 

We are therefore convinced that high-quality, sustainably and fairly produced genuine leather is and will remain the perfect material for our products. 

5. Sustainable Leather Production and Certification

Sustainable leather production— free of toxic chemicals and exploitative supply chains—is extremely important to us. We use only high-quality, durable cowhide from responsible, certified sources. We source our leather from German suppliers who work exclusively with tanneries certified to the Leather Working Group (LWG) Gold Standard —the world’s leading sustainability standard for leather production.

In addition, our leathers comply with the European REACH regulations (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals), which prohibit the use of toxic chemicals in the tanning process. This allows us to ensure that regulations for the protection of the environment and human health are followed throughout the production chain. Some of our leathers are vegetable-tanned, while others are mineral-tanned.

6. Transparency Regarding Materials and Production

Warning: Ninety percent of the leather produced worldwide does not come from sustainable sources. Even leather products labeled “genuine leather” are, in most cases, manufactured under appalling labor and environmental conditions—such as child labor and the use of harmful and often toxic chemicals—in Bangladesh, India, or China.

Therefore, when buying leather, always look for transparency: Where does the leather itself (the raw material) come from, and where and how was it tanned? Often, this information is not readily apparent to consumers, especially when it comes to products that were not manufactured responsibly. For sustainable leather products, the origin is usually explained in detail on the label. 

You'll also find information about all the different materials used in our products, ensuring complete transparency. This applies not only to the leather we use but also to the manufacturing process: Fair-made in Amsterdam, in our own workshop.