Shared opportunities with agri-food come ‘at a critical time’, COTANCE says
The leather industry’s main representative body in the European Union (EU), COTANCE, has launched a new project, Symbios.
The project will run with the support of the Erasmus+ programme. This EU-wide programme of support for education and training projects began in 2021 and will run until 2027.
As the name suggests, the aim of Symbios will be to encourage mutually beneficial connections between the leather industry and the agri-food sector. It will seek to identify models of good practice between food producers and leather manufacturers that can be replicated in different parts of Europe.
Project partners will conduct research on how these models can work across the two sectors. This will include examining the regulatory framework, finding out what current practices are, and assessing future potential.
COTANCE said at a launch event in Porto that one of the main outcomes of Symbios will be a digital platform for informing, training and supporting professional development in the circular economy. This platform will also connect companies and encourage them to work together “through symbiotic practices”.
It will work with Milan-based consultancy Spin360 to lead the leather sector’s involvement in the project. This will involve setting up two focus groups to bring together stakeholders from across the leather supply chain.
Their work will also involve conducting surveys, interviews and a literature review to identify practices that offer “real opportunities for synergies”.
At the launch event in Porto, COTANCE secretary general, Gustavo González-Quijano said the project was starting at a critical time for the leather industry. He said it had the potential “to turn sustainability into a shared opportunity”, with agri-food and leather moving forward together.
He concluded that practical solutions and strong connections would come out of Symbios, helping leather to continue to be “a leader in Europe’s circular economy”.
