Arzignano group gives greenLIFE progress report
02/04/2015
Last year, two of the biggest tanners in the Arzignano cluster in the province of Vicenza in northern Italy, Gruppo Dani and Gruppo Mastrotto, formally launched the project, which is called Green Leather Industry for the Environment (greenLIFE). They are working with three technical partners: chemical supplier Ikem, biotechnology firm Ilsa and the cluster’s wastewater treatment service provider, Acque del Chiampo.
On April 2, head of research and development at Gruppo Mastrotto, Giorgio Pozza, released initial details of an idea to use keratin obtained from hair recovered during the tanning process in green technology.
For his part, Filippo Meneguzzi, who is heading up research specifically for greenLIFE for Gruppo, has given more detail on an ongoing Dani project examining how the oxidative liming process can make hide hair removal and dermis swelling easier, which makes chemical absorption in the next stages of the tanning process easier.
In his progress report, Marco Nogarole, head of research and development for greenLIFE at Ikem, focused on a hair removal stage that avoids the use of sulfides.
In parallel, the president of the tanning industry association in the province of Vicenza, Paolo Gurisatti, issued a statement saying the environmental soundness of the tanning process is the key to having successful leather industry cluster in today’s market.
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