Industry first for Gruppo Dani
Arzignano-based leather manufacturer Gruppo Dani has achieved certification under the ISO/IEC 17033:2019 standard, which covers companies’ ethical claims and supporting information to back claims up.
Gruppo Dani says it is the first leather manufacturer in the world to achieve this milestone.
In parallel, it is celebrating ICEC TS SC 410 certification, which is awarded by Italy’s quality certification institute for the leather sector for good practice in raw material traceability. Gruppo Dani received a rating of ‘excellent’ from ICEC for this aspect of its supply chain.
The group said ISO 17033 certification would provide its customers with reassurance that all the hides it processes come from farms that raise livestock for food purposes only. It said this confirmed Gruppo Dani’s commitment to the circular economy because it confirmed that the group’s work is based on “ennobling a by-product from the food industry that would otherwise go to waste”.
As part of its submission for certification under ICEC TS SC 410, the group also presented “precise and complete mapping” of the origin of the hides and skins it sources, identifying slaughterhouses and farms.
Its analysis shows that 35% of the hides Gruppo Dani uses are from Italy, with 21% coming from Spain. Germany is the next-biggest source with 9.5% of the total, followed by France with 7%, Poland with 6.5%, Denmark and Norway with 4.5% each, Ireland with 3.5% and the UK with 1.5%. This makes Europe’s contribution 93% of all the hides the group uses. The remaining 7% comes from North America, 4.5% from Canada and 2.5% from the US.
On announcing the new certifications, chief executive, Giancarlo Dani, said he had modelled the company’s commitment to sustainability on making sure every phase and every supplier in the value chain were part of the overall effort. He said he also welcomed joint-projects in which Gruppo Dani has worked with other companies in the Veneto leather cluster to learn and improve together, helping the wider Italian leather industry to stand out.
“It’s satisfying to see that we are making a concrete contribution to a better world,” Mr Dani concluded.
