IULTCS, the 126-year-old International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies, holds a world congress every 2 years. It set targets for the steps to be followed by the tanning industry in the 2024-2025 period and for the 38th Congress to be held in Lyon, France in September 2025.
Founded in London in 1897, IULTCS, the International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies, currently represents approximately 3000 individual members and 19 member associations worldwide. It is a scientific institution formed by leather engineering in the academy that determines strategies and produces solutions for the global leather industry. The union organization, which organizes international congresses in various countries every two years and enables the production of modern technologies and the development of chemical methods in leather production, has determined its strategies for the 2024-2025 period.
Its unique structure consisting of collagen fibers made by nature and providing extraordinary properties, which has ensured its compatibility with the high demands of leather quality requirements and within the framework of sustainable and environmentally friendly processes, is an inimitable science. Focusing on the congress it will organize in 2025, IULTCS has set principles for its sustainability goals for this unique craft since the existence of humanity:
Empowering the role of the IULTCS Commissions: to boost the effectiveness of our existing commissions and to explore the establishment of a new commission for sustainability to address the emerging challenges and to drive positive change within the industry:
- Communicating leather as an irreplaceable material: pushing back against the falsehoods widely shared on social media, with facts and scientific arguments.
- Global collaboration for Research and Innovation between international research institutions and industry partners to promote continuous innovation in leather technology and measurable impact in processing.
- Education and skill development within the leather sector. Support programs that enhance the knowledge and capabilities of professionals, ensuring a skilled workforce for the future.
- Youth Engagement and Mentorship: cultivating the next generation of leather scientists and professionals by promoting youth engagement initiatives such as the YLSG. Collaboration between our experienced members and the emerging talent to ensure as seamless a transfer of knowledge as possible.
- Environmental stewardship and responsible practices along the leather value chain.
