That of leather, is the core business of most of the big Luxury brands, coming to represent as much as 50% and 70% of their turnover. The Italian leather supply chain is the only one that encompasses, at the highest level of excellence, all the links of the value chain in a single territory, within specialized districts.
The aggregate leather sector (tannery, footwear, leather goods, and technology) represents an important slice of Italian manufacturing: it employs a total of more than 130 thousand people (4% of the Ital- ian manufacturing sector), produces more than 30 billion euros in turnover and an added value of 6 billion, or 3% of the added value generated by Italian manufacturing.
In 2022, Italy was reconfirmed as the leading value exporter in Eu- rope for supply chain technologies, tanned leather, leather goods and footwear. Italian savoir-faire is recognized worldwide: the value of exports of the four supply chains in 2022 amounted to about 27 billion euros (+15% compared to 2021). Of these, about 45% were footwear and 40% leather goods, with diversified destinations to Europe, the United States, South Korea and China among the top destinations.
The trade balance is around 15 billion euros (1.7 billion for tannery, 7.2 billion for leather goods, 5.4 billion for footwear and 300 million for technology). We are talking about a “national champion.”

A roundup of previews regarding the technologies that major companies in the leather processing industry will present at Simac Tanning Tech is the main topic of this issue, which turns the spotlight on important innovations that enable tanneries to optimize processes to reduce environmental impact, automate processing steps and lower energy and chemical consumption.
We then discuss the 37th IULTCS Congress dedicated to “Innovations to make leather irreplaceable” to be held in China next October in the presence of the world’s leading experts in leather chemicals. Finally, we report an interview with Elisa Gavazza, ZDHC’s director for Southern Europe, who reports on the latest news affecting tanneries and manufacturers of leather chemicals engaged in the program aimed at zeroing chemical risk.

There is a system that seems to focus everything on “formal sustainability” and there are those who, like the Italian tannery, represent an example of “substantial sustainability.” These were the words of President Fabrizio Nuti at the last UNIC assembly, who reiterated how there are not many industries whose raw material is derived from a waste from another supply chain. Italian tanners, moreover, have gone further by putting in place “a recycling and reuse chain of their production waste in tanneries that has no equal, treating and reusing it for the cosmetics industry, the food industry, agriculture and construction. The result is a circularity rate of more than 99 percent.”

Our sector has been willing to commit itself by introducing voluntary certification methodologies for machinery. A distinctive element of Italian savoir-faire aimed at achieving those sustainable development goals of which much is spoken.
A supportive action will have to be taken on these issues that focuses on the promotion of Italian System, capable of sustaining the sector in the fierce international competition.
With this in mind, the events scheduled for next September and October 2023 will also lend themselves to become important moments of discussion and dialogue for the supply chain.

The tanning industry’s transition to cleaner, circular production processes is now a given. The recovery of processing waste for the development of bio-based chemicals is the latest frontier in this path aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the tanning process. From green chemistry we move to the principles of circular chemistry with the understanding that a greener leather production environment, both in terms of reducing emissions and waste, is essential for the defense of a truly sustainable industrial system.

Many topics in this first issue of 2023. The focus is on the latest chemical tanning of automotive leathers, a sector whose balance sheet remains negative but where there are encouraging signs. Looking up higher, the last UNIC & Italian Tanneries meeting showed a two-sided 2022 economy with a very positive first half followed by a more complicated second half of the year.

This issue is dedicated to Simac Tanning Tech 2022 with a full-bodied report of the innovations presented at the world’s most important leather area technology fair by the best companies in the mechano-tanning industry. Machine manufacturers’ attention is focused on improving environmental performance with solutions that enable the reduction of water, energy and chemical consumption while lowering waste production and emissions of all kind.

The tanning sector restarts in September with lots of interesting innovations coming from the leading chemical companies and an agenda full of events and appointments. It begins with III IULTCS EuroCongress scheduled from September 18 to 20.

From the leather used in the furniture industry, which is still registering positive figures, to the latest events in the tannery sector. Among the pages of this issue of Tannery, all the latest and most interesting news from the sector!

From new technologies that you will find at the next Simac Tanning Tech 2022 exhibition, to advanced devices and systems that improve the environmental performance of machinery, to technologies that reduce the environmental impact of cattle farms. Let’s talk about technological innovations, and more.