Photo: AUGA

Organised by AUGA, on 17 February Bernat Vilarrubias, manager of IDR and president of Leather Cluster Barcelona, gave a lecture at the Ateneu municipal theatre in Igualada on how the treatment plant of Igualadina de Depuració i Recuperació S.L. (IDR) works.

AUGA (the University Extension Classroom for Older People of the Anoia) is an initiative that seeks to disseminate culture, awaken interest and stimulate and satisfy the intellectual curiosity of older people. AUGA offers weekly lectures in order to bring enjoyment to and enliven the daily lives of the adult population of the Anoia region.

In a highly engaging and instructive way, Bernat Vilarrubias explained the process of biological water treatment, drawing an analogy with the workings of nature itself.

After almost twenty years in operation, the treatment plant of Igualadina de Depuració i Recuperació S.L. (IDR), one of the pioneering plants in Europe for the treatment of industrial wastewater, has become a benchmark for the water industry.

Over these years, the plant, which treats every day the water generated in the leather transformation process by the Igualada tanning companies that are members of Leather Cluster Barcelona, together with that of other industries and part of Igualada's urban water, has been visited by technicians and sustainability professionals from more than 30 different countries.

During the lecture, the manager of IDR and president of Leather Cluster Barcelona gave details of the new ERA project.

In a context in which the growing problem of water supply in Catalonia is a serious concern, and within the horizon of Zero Waste in the tanning industry, IDR and Leather Cluster Barcelona have for months been working on a project to give treated water a second life, with the construction of a Water Regeneration Station (ERA).

This ambitious project to build a Water Regeneration Station (ERA) consists of treating the effluent from the IDR treatment plant (the water leaving the plant, once already treated) in order to obtain a flow of osmosis-treated water (practically pure water) and another of salt water, both reusable by the tanning industry or for other purposes.

The tanners' IDR treatment plant, as well as being an exemplary instance of competitive cooperation and of the advantage of belonging to a cluster, is a pioneer in the integration of shared value: a business project that has a positive impact on society and promotes a balance between business competitiveness and social and environmental awareness, helping to build a fairer, greener and more equitable economy.

At such critical times for the most valuable of resources, water, Leather Cluster Barcelona is taking action as a cluster and in a socially responsible way: regenerating and reusing water.

The AUGA lecture aroused great interest among those attending and ended with a lively and well-attended question-and-answer session from the audience.

Leather Cluster Barcelona is an environment of competitive cooperation for promoting cross-cutting, transformative strategic projects with the aim of driving forward the ecosystem of the Catalan leather sector within the framework of Shared Value policies. The cluster is an accredited entity within the Catalonia Clusters programme and has the support of Acció.