Leather Cluster Barcelona makes a benchmarking trip to Italy

A delegation from Leather Cluster Barcelona visited Italy this November on a benchmarking and alliance-building trip, exploring the sector of the valorisation of organic waste and resources in the transalpine country in order to learn about companies, facilities and circular economy trends that can serve as inspiration and a basis for cooperation for the cluster’s companies and stakeholders as they face the future together.

Benchmarking is an exercise in international comparison in order to understand a more advanced reality that has resolved a key strategic challenge and to seek synergies that make it possible to move towards improvements in product and process innovation.

Italy is a benchmark ecosystem for the leather industry when it comes to international benchmarking. It is the country with the largest leather industry in the world. The Italian tanning industry employs some 18,000 people in more than 1,100 companies, with an annual turnover of 4.6 billion euros (73% of it for export). Historically it has been considered the world leader in terms of high technological and qualitative development and for its great capacity for innovation.

During the trip the delegation visited centres that are advanced in the valorisation of various organic waste streams and resources, learning about the great capacity of the Italian leather industry to develop unique production technologies, making major investments in innovation in order to valorise organic waste and resources and obtain high value-added products from them, such as amino acids used as biostimulants for organic farming, as well as oils for biodiesel as an energy source.

With this trip, the cluster’s representatives have returned with a broader view of how to optimise the valorisation of organic waste and resources from the tanning process in Catalonia through technology and innovation.

The circular economy is a fundamental strategic pillar for Leather Cluster Barcelona. In this respect, the cluster pursues excellence in valorisation and is working on projects to transform organic waste and resources into high value-added products.

Leather Cluster Barcelona reaffirms its commitment to the sustainable use of natural resources, minimal environmental impact in production and the efficient management of the waste and secondary raw materials generated by the leather sector. In a leather sector that is constantly transforming and facing new challenges, the cluster’s aim is to be a driving and transformative agent for the development of new business opportunities through the competitive cooperation of the entire value chain.