Our Materials

Leather is a by-product of the food industry. Transforming hides into useful objects, rather than discarding them, is an ancient human craft used for over 9,000 years and one of the earliest forms of upcycling.

We are committed to excellent environmental and labor practices. Our headquarters in Dongen, The Netherlands and all of our tanneries in Asia received a Silver-Star rating from the Leather Working Group. Leather is a by-product of the meat industry—and we source our materials from carefully selected food-processing companies in Europe and the United States that meet internationally animal welfare standards.

Every year, leather tanning around the globe uses an estimated 400 billion liters of water. ECCO Leather has pioneered DriTan™, a revolutionary new tanning process that tans without water. This saves 20 liters of water per hide, translating to about 5 liters of water per bag, and 25 million liters of water saved annually. That's enough water to keep 9,000 people hydrated for one year. Plus, DriTan™ technology also considerably reduces the amount of chemicals used and lowers the wastewater production.

All our consumer packaging is made from 100% certified recycled materials. We work closely with our suppliers to ensure that 100% of their packaging materials are also certified recycled. Currently, we are at about 80% and will continue to cooperate with our suppliers to adopt recycled materials.

We use sustainable textiles such as recycled nylon, recycled cotton, and recycled polyester on bag elements such as lining, webbing, mesh, zipper taping, and thread.

We are pleased to offer a recycled and reusable dust bag with every purchase. ECCO Dustbags are soft, durable, and constructed to safeguard your leather bag or accessories. Each bag is woven from a blend of 100% recycled materials, including cotton and polyester sourced from GRS certified and responsible supply chains. Crafted with a drawstring and shoulder straps, you can easily recycle or repurpose ECCO Dust Bags in a variety of ways outside of your closet. Our dust bag protects your purchase throughout its journey – from the factory to stores to your home – without the need for a plastic poly bag. Please excuse any dirt marks it has gathered along the way. We hope you will join us in our mission to reduce plastic.

By 2030 our goal is to operate with closed-loop water systems and to use only bio-based, recycled, or recyclable chemicals and substances.Today, we strive to use upcycled and recycled materials at every opportunity. We are also developing new technologies to reduce water and solid waste in our leather production.