SRL has four main tanneries that produce cow leather, sheep leather and suede. These facilities are located in the Baoshan District of Shanghai and cover a land area of 55,000 square metres. The company is one of the world’s three largest leather makers and is one of the largest centres for leather production in southeast Asia. Production is predominantly export-based.

A number of breaches of environmental law have occurred at SRL in recent years. On June 5, 2009, Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau added SRL to its blacklist, accused of "releasing excessive atmospheric pollutants, infringing the management regulation on atmospheric pollution prevention". In 2008 the company was included on a list of companies investigated and prosecuted by Shanghai’s environmental authorities after turning off air treatment equipment and thereby breaching regulations on atmospheric pollution prevention (see 2008 First List of Companies Investigated and Prosecuted by Shanghai Environmental Authorities, Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau, June 5, 2008). The company was also fined 100,000 yuan (US $14,635) by the municipal environmental bureau for breaching standards on the release of atmospheric pollutants and given a deadline within which to make changes (see Report on Administrative Punishments in October 2008, Baoshan Environmental Bureau, November 11, 2008).

In 2007 the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau (SEPB) cited SRL for environmental violations regarding the release of noxious odours from its leather processing plants. This had been a cause of neighbourhood complaints for many years, affecting the daily lives and health of students and teachers at Shanghai University, as well as nearby residents. The Shanghai environmental authorities concluded that SRL could not continue to use highly-polluting manufacturing or processing methods. They further suggested that the city government enforce changes, factory closure or relocation in order to definitively solve the problem of air pollution in the area. (see Baoshan 2007 Management of Environmental Problems, Baoshan Environmental Bureau, September 18, 2007). The Baoshan Environmental Bureau also fined SRL 28,000 yuan (US $4798) and ordered changes (see November 2007 Summary of Administrative Punishments, Baoshan Environmental Bureau, January 15, 2007).

In 2006 SRL’s atmospheric emissions were above regulatory limits, breaching rules on atmospheric pollution (See 2006 Second List of Companies Investigated and Prosecuted by Shanghai Environmental Authorities, Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau, December 30, 2006). In July 2006 SEPB fined SRL 50,000 yuan (US $7317) for odours released during treatment of waste water that were found to be in breach of standards and polluting the surrounding environment. SEPB noted that the waste water produced during manufacturing had a strong unpleasant odour, which was released into the atmosphere during waste water treatment. Moreover, the sludge resulting from the treatment process emitted odours while being removed from the site. Accordingly, SEPB required the plant to stop the tanning of raw hides by the end of 2006 (See 2006 Companies Ordered to Rectify Environmental Problems, Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau, October 27, 2006).

In 2005 SLR was also enumerated in SEPB’s Second List of Companies Investigated and Prosecuted by Shanghai Environmental Authorities, December 31 2005, after failing to comply with an order to clean up production and causing atmospheric pollution.

In 2004 SRL was ordered to make changes after breaching limits on the release of offensive odours. The company failed to comply on time, and on December 17 2004 odours at three testing stations were still in breach of the limit of 30 in the Standards on Odour Pollution. The company incurred an administrative punishment from the Shanghai environmental authorities, along with a further rectification order. In 2005 the Shanghai government published the 2004-2005 District (County) Enterprises Subject to Rectification Orders, and the company was included on the list of companies investigated and prosecuted by environmental authorities because of failure to comply with the order to rectify atmospheric pollution. (see 2004-2005 District County Enterprises Subject to Rectification Orders, Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau, June 9 2005).

From 2004-2005 Shanghai environmental authorities investigated and punished SRL for breaching standards on the release of waste water, even though the company has a water treatment plants able to process 9,700 cubic metres of waste water from the tanning process daily. The company was included on a Shanghai government list of enterprises breaching environmental regulations. (See 2004-2005 List of Companies Investigated and Prosecuted by Shanghai Environmental Authorities, Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau, June 5 2005).