Yak hide trials open new door for Zeology
A leather manufacturer in the Sichuan province of China has carried out successful trials of Smit & Zoon Group’s Zeology tanning system on fresh yak hides.
Sichuan has a larger domestic yak population (around 4 million head) than any other part of China; the animals thrive on the alpine grasslands there and provide milk, meat, hair and a source of fuel in the form of dung. They are also used a beasts of burden and for sport.
However, according to the tannery in this project, Sichuan Dehua Leather, the hides of these animals have been going into landfill after slaughter.
Its tannery, in the town of Jiangyou, around 150 kilometres north of Chengdu, is close to an abattoir and Sichuan Dehua has begun receiving fresh yak hides from there. It is using the Zeology system to process these into leather that is chrome-free, heavy metal-free and aldehyde-free.
