Stahl and partners launch five-year project to help clean up the Ganges
15/11/2017
Stahl will work with environmental campaign group Solidaridad and with Dutch consultancy firm PUM on the project, as well as with tanners and leather industry bodies in and around Kanpur. Local organisations involved include the Uttar Pradesh Leather Industry Association, the local Small Tanners Association, the Central Leather Research Institute and the Ganga Pollution Control Unit, which is part of a wider initiative called ‘Clean Ganga’, launched by India’s central government several years ago.
The overall objective of the project is to reduce the effluent water discharged by local tanners by at least 40% and to help them bring in new technology and processes at tanneries to lower environmental impact. Training tannery staff on best practices will also be part of the project, as will working with local communities to encourage efficient water use for crop irrigation and livestock farming.
One of the contributions Stahl will make will be to expand its network of centres of excellence to add a new centre in this part of India. At the time of the announcement, the company’s director of sustainability, Michael Costello, said: “We are well aware of the complex issues in the Kanpur leather cluster where some 400 tanneries discharge 50 million litres of wastewater each day. We also understand that we alone cannot change the situation, so we have joined forces with industry partners and local authorities to contribute to the clean-up already under way of this iconic and sacred river.”
The project will have the support of the Sustainable Water Fund programme (FDW), a public-private partnership set up by the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs. Solidaridad is the overall project co-ordinator and consortium leader, Stahl is the main private contributor and PUM will provide technical assistance and training support.
Image shows Renuka Kumar, principal secretary of India’s ministry for the environment and the Netherlands ambassador to India, Alfons Stoelinga, at a ceremony marking the launch the of the project.
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