At the September edition of Lineapelle, Silvateam will present the latest innovations of the Ecotan technology, previewed here in an interview with Antonio Battaglia, BU Leather Director.

The Ecotan project, created and promoted by Silvateam, is considered the most innovative and sustainable solution for the tanning industry. With the aim of reducing the environmental impact of the industry, Silvateam has developed a new tanning technology that uses plant extracts and biopolymers instead of traditional leather chemicals.

This eco-friendly approach offers several advantages: firstly, it reduces the emission of pollutants into the environment, contributing to the preservation of the ecosystem; and secondly, this process requires less energy, thereby reducing the consumption of non-renewable resources. However, that’s not all.

The plant extracts used in the Ecotan tanning and retanning process come from renewable sources, such as tree trunks and barks, which are naturally rich in tannin. This means that not only the negative impacts on the environment are reduced, but natural resources are also enhanced.

In addition, thanks to the Ecotan tanning process, high-quality leathers with excellent technical performance are obtained. Therefore, tanneries can offer some solutions to their clients to meet the growing demand for environmentally sustainable products. According to a recent study conducted by WEF (2021), 73% of consumers say they are willing to pay more for fashion products made with low environmental impact criteria.

The Ecotan project by Silvateam is a concrete example of how innovation and sustainability can grow harmoniously and synergistically.

To begin with, let’s talk about the latest developments related to the carbon footprint of your products.

“Focusing on LCA, Silvateam has made significant progress in the last twelve months. Ten years ago, we were the first chemical products company in the tanning industry to conduct, in collaboration with SPIN360, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on some of our plant extracts and synthetic tannins. This analysis enabled us to participate in the environmental performance assessment working group to define Product Category Rules (PCRs) for tanning chemicals.

Today, the company has adopted an advanced system for generating LCA data, again with the support of SPIN360, which is based on ISO 14040 standards and has allowed us to calculate the LCA of 40 products so far, representing 90% of our sales. Moreover, we not only focus on the environmental performance of our products, but also strive to support our customers in reducing the impact of the entire leather tanning process.

In this regard, we were among the first leather chemical manufacturers to adopt the LCA Simulator, a software developed by SPIN360, which enables Research & Development engineers to analyze the stages of beamhouse, tanning and post-tanning, monitoring real-time of the energy consumption and the impact of all resources used. Thanks to this software, we are able to accurately quantify the environmental impact of different types of leather, taking into account factors such as CO2 emissions, water and energy consumption, as well as the use of natural resources.

This accurate approach has been adopted particularly for the leathers in our Ecotan line, whereas previously, we relied mainly on rough estimates of similar products (proxies). The implementation of this advanced tool represents a significant leap forward that we will offer to our clients, enabling them to accurately assess the environmental impact of the products they purchase.”