Detroit Auto Show: Low-Carbon Leather From Lincoln's Source January 11, 2012, 10:58 am DETROIT - The Ford Motor Company was among the first clients of the Bridge of Weir Leather Company, whose hides appeared after 1911 in the Model T, according to company literature. Leather from the Scottish company is currently used to make seat covers for several Lincoln models - a point frequently exploited by Lincoln's advertising copywriters, who cite the hides" freedom from "brand marks and other imperfections." Dale Wallace, sales manager of Bridge of Weir, was on the Lincoln stand Monday at the auto show to discuss the firm's place in an industry that has been responsible for its share of pollution. According to Mr. Wallace, much of the leather used in automotive seating is sourced from underregulated slaughterhouses in Latin America, where improper waste disposal leads to groundwater contamination. Bridge of Weir sources most of its hides, Mr. Wallace said, within a 60-mile radius, minimizing the amount of travel required to deliver them to the processing point. Making finished leather produces significant waste; Mr. Wallace said that an unfinished hide sheds nine-tenths of its weight during processing. Most leather companies landfill this waste, a practice that is expected to be prohibited in most markets as early as 2017. Looking ahead, Bridge of Weir built a thermal energy plant at its headquarters, which treats the waste as raw material to create heat and steam to dry leather and heat water. The diversion of leather waste from the landfill saves 100,000 miles in truck journeys per year, the company said. In further savings, fat is separated from the waste and turned into biofuel. "We can produce more than 100 gallons an hour," Mr. Wallace said. The final waste product is mineral ash, which can be sold for use in the construction industry. Bridge of Weir's organic tanning process uses tree bark, which allows the copywriters for other brands who purchase the low-carbon leather, including Fisker, Volvo, Jaguar and Aston Martin, to say that the hides are fully recyclable.