Comment by Asidonhopo@lemmy.world on Rule

Leather is a by-product of dairy and beef production, there is vastly more leather than we use for garments. Most of it gets processed into pet food or makeup or automotive lubricants or who knows what

You are on the right track. Hides are a byproduct. Nobody kills animals for them.

Once the hides are turned into leather, they are no longer biodegradable.

Natural leather is absolutely biodegradable.

Veg tanned leather is impervious to bacteria. Fungi can damage it, albeit slowly.

Chrome tanned leather is similar but way more resistant. Probably 99% of the leather (except shoe soles) people deal with is chrome tanned.

If you try to put it in your compost you are going to be sad.

When I worked on a dairy farm I had to replace my leather boots every 9 months because the moisture and manure broke the leather down.

Leather that is kept dry is very resistant to rot, leather that is allowed to stay wet is not.

I’m pretty sure that was because of its exposure to animal waste products which are acidic and not the typical environment leather is exposed to.

That would tend to suggest that it would also do alright in compost doesn’t it?

Yeah this is just not true at all.

Composting veg leather is considered the best method of disposal as it breaks down in 3-5 months.

Chrome tanned leather can take much longer to break down but is still considered biodegradable.

Chrome tanned leather is similar but way more resistant. Probably 99% of the leather (except shoe soles) people deal with is chrome tanned.

What would happen if you just buried such chrome tanned leather and forgot about it?

That is the test the military used (maybe still uses) to see if the leather for their boots passes quality inspection.

If it was not treated with TCMTB, then fungi will eventually break down the leather. If it was, it will still be there.

We (humans) have leather that has survived in ancient ruins since the beginning of history.

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