WWF Pakistan has revealed a breakthrough that could reshape the country’s leather sector. The organisation showcased Pakistan’s first ever traceable leather jacket developed under the SMEP Programme.
The jacket was displayed at a workshop focused on the Digital Traceability Tool and the EU Deforestation Regulation. It showed how simple tech can bring transparency.
The new digital tool called Tracemyleather.com allows users to follow a leather product from the moment the hide is sourced to the moment it becomes a finished jacket.
It highlights where the raw material came from how it was processed and whether global rules like the EUDR were followed.
This is the first time such a system has been tested in Pakistan and it marks a major step toward responsible production.
The SMEP team believes this tool will help manufacturers exporters and suppliers adopt cleaner and more accountable practices.
Pakistan’s leather industry is the country’s third largest export sector and supports more than a million people. Yet it still struggles with major environmental issues like chemical waste pollution and the lack of traceability.
The project led by WWF Pakistan is working to change that.
The team is testing three key solutions. One focuses on traceability to track hides from suppliers to factories. Another turns leather waste like trimmings and shavings into water resistant surfactants promoting circularity. A third replaces toxic chemicals with lipase enzymes to make production cleaner and safer for workers.
The platform behind this initiative lets industry players monitor products across the supply chain while accessing data that can guide smarter decisions. The goal is to build a leather industry that is transparent sustainable and trusted by global markets.
