The Tamil Nadu leather industry is moving towards making its manufacturing processes greener by utilising renewable power, adopting zero liquid discharge process, recycling and making circular products.
The Indian Finished Leather Manufacturers and Exporters Association (IFLMEA) said, while speaking to the press, the industry is moving towards sustainable initiatives based on demand. Leather industrial hubs in Tamil Nadu’s Ranipet, Vellore and Vaniyambadi among others have changed course of their processes based on their export markets since the customers in the US and Europe demand greener products.
The association claimed that the state’s leather clusters are reusing tanning salt and rescuing lime sludge used for making paver blocks. SK Sabapathy of Saba Group, which manufactures chemicals for leather processing, said the industry has reduced the toxicity of the chemicals used in leather and that the leather produced are free of metals, chrome and salt.
Manufacturers are also calculating their carbon footprints by coming up with the appropriate mechanisms, said Tatheer Zaidi, General Manager (Asia) of Solidaridad, which is a global non-profit working on sustainable solutions in the textile and leather industries.
