Effluent treatment problems force closure of New Zealand tannery
A New Zealand tannery is to be mothballed due to problems with a shared effluent treatment facility.
Southland Leather of Makarewa will close its doors on December 20, having been refused permission to go on using shared effluent ponds by the ponds’ owner, Alliance Meat. Speaking to the local press, an Alliance spokesman said the tannery had gone from being a small to large contributor to the pond, and that future changes to the ponds needed resource consent, which had become a "complex" issue.
Southland managing director Chris Port said he had hoped the tannery could continue by adapting its processing methods and by securing a larger number of raw skins. The company would continue to salt skins in a "limited capacity" until the end of the killing season and former staff could reapply for some of the positions, he said.
All 34 workers at the 30-year-old tannery will be made redundant with the closure of the plant.
