The European Commission has financed, within the LIFE programme, the Green Leather Industry for the Environment project. GreenLIFE involves five companies belonging to the Vicenza tanning supply chain, the Dani and Gruppo Mastrotto tanneries, Ikem, the chemical sector, Ilsa of the biotechnology and technical means for agriculture sector and Acque del Chiampo, manager of water purification services. The project aims to be a first step in a shared path at district level and the objectives concern the reduction in various aspects of the environmental impact of the tanning supply chain. In particular greenLIFE aims to:
- reduce water consumption in the coastal phases by 20%.
- reduce the consumption of chemical products in the coastal phases by 20%.
- reduce solid waste by 20%.
- substantial reduction of sulfur in the skin hair removal phase
- recover and valorise 15% of the by-products of the tanning cycle
- create a “technology hub” to share ideas and technologies.
The development of the activities will be completed over three years starting from June 2014, requiring an investment of 2.3 million euros, approximately 50% of which will be financed by the European Commission. These are the main lines of research:
- experimentation up to the industrial scale of oxidative limestones and with recovery of the baths;
- experimentation up to the semi-industrial scale of enzymatic liming and metal-free tanning;
- recovery, treatment and valorisation of the by-products of the tanning process in the industrial, agro-industrial and energy sectors;
- evaluation of the effect of new technologies on the overall water purification system;
- analysis of the environmental and socio-economic impacts of new technologies, with simulation on a district scale;
Each phase will be accompanied by information and update activities for all stakeholders. GreenLIFE launches a message of breadth of perspectives, innovation, planning capacity and compactness of the district’s actors, through an initiative that joins others already underway for some time in the area which underline the desire of the Vicenza tanning district to express itself as a system , rather than as a simple collection of individual companies.