Brazil: Leather industry’s focus on sustainability pays off
10/10/2013
The country has 17 gold, 14 silver and two bronze ratings, followed by China, which has 32 certified companies audited by the multi-stakeholder group
“It is a panorama that reaffirms the commitment of the country to environmental issues,” said José Fernando Bello, executive president of the CICB.
“The benefit of creating cohesion on environmental issues is great. The sector is continuously improving its environmental performance in areas such water consumption, management, treatment of wastewater effluents, emission reduction, raw materials traceability and waste disposal, among others.”
Most of the certified plants in Brazil have grade A for traceability which CIBC says could be a challenge for other countries.
Three Brazilian members were recently elected to the LWG’s executive committee and meat packer and tanning group JBS was named as the representative of the leather manufacturers.
Currently, the sector employs more than 50,000 workers, and a team dedicated its time exclusively to issues relating to sustainability.
National tanneries have been working on a series of improvements and training focused on the reduction of the environmental impacts, contributing to the nation's economic and social development. The training addresses issues relating to chemical safety, legislation, product safety, cleaner technologies, environmental and eco issues. The team meets in regular seminars, forums and congresses to discuss the best practices being used in sector around the world.
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