Leather industry is a major contributor to the global economy, more importantly in the developing countries with significant impact on foreign exchange and employment opportunities. While the limiting factors of the tanneries are its contribution to carbon footprints, sludge from water waste treatment and effluent from process, the purpose of this study is to bring out the operational restructuring benefits for Energy efficiency for reduced carbon footprints and notable ESG practices in leather tanneries in Uganda, Russia Nigeria, Syria, Turkey, India, and Bangladesh. Last 6 years secondary data was collected from 46 tanneries from these countries, during the LWG audits for certification. Results were obtained through qualitative and quantitative analysis of various parameters directly related to the United Nations' Sustainability Development Goals.

The contributions from restructuring basically evolve from reduction of energy and water consumption in production, better air and noise emission control, effluent treatment to acceptable levels, hazardous and non-hazardous waste recycling and reuse, workplace safety, and decent working conditions. Important findings demonstrate that high-level operational transformation and Environmental governance have resulted in significantly minimising manufacturing costs, has secured businesses from environmental conscious markets, promotes responsible raw material and chemical consumption ensuring employees and consumer safety, eliminating environmental degradation, thus saving lives on land and under water