SKYE SHEEPSKIN tannery Skyeskyns has upped its environmental credentials by switching to a tanning process using natural tree extracts.

Based in Waternish on the Isle of Skye, Skyeskyns is the sole remaining commercial woolskin tannery in Scotland, run by the second generation of the Hartwell family, who hope to steer the production of high quality, hand-crafted sheepskins, leather and woollen goods through the 21st Century, by adapting their business to fit with the highest possible environmental and sustainability goals.

The craftsmen and women of the tannery have taken another step along this journey of ‘treading lightly’ by moving to a more sustainable tanning process which uses mimosa, the tannin extract from the bark of the mimosa tree. An ancient, traditional process, the aim is that everything produced within the tanning process will be compostable and spread back onto the Skyeskyns croft, supported, in future, by a series of reed beds.

Marketing director Jess Hartwell said: “The skins we tan ourselves at Skyeskyns all come from either our own homebred sheep or from other Scottish sheep farms, minimising travel and using a waste product from the meat industry, and everything we do within the tannery and our entire process has sustainability at its core. We are now so excited to have launched a new to us, albeit very traditional, tanning process which produces incredibly soft, high quality leather in the most environmentally sustainable way possible.

“Our ethos, ever since my dad first started tanning in 1983, is about trying to effect positive change and be the best we can be environmentally and otherwise. This production change is a key step forward in fully achieving our aims and values. When you tie in all our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint, from running an electric vehicle to using recyclable packaging, we are proud of the way in which the business is moving forward both commercially and environmentally."