A 40% reduction in water consumption and a 65% reduction in chemical products with an innovative production process

On Friday 2 December, A3 Leather Innovation Center of the Igualada-UdL University Campus and Leather Cluster Barcelona organised a session at the Adoberia Bella to present the results of the project Innovative strategy within the framework of the circular economy in the tanning sector – INNPELL- (2020-2022).

The project has been led by A3 Leather Innovation Center, the research group of the University of Lleida (UdL) at the Igualada Campus, made up of researchers and experts in various scientific and technological fields and specialising in the value chain of the leather industry. In addition to A3 Leather Innovation Center, the consortium of companies that have taken part in the project includes other Leather Cluster Barcelona members, such as Leather Química SLU, which promoted the initiative, Curtidos Badia SAU, Compañia Arrendataria de Industrial Igualadina SA, Combalia SA, Miret y Compañia SA, Curtits Aqualata SA and Igualadina de Depuració i Recuperació SL.

This project (reference COMRDI18-1-0003) has been co-financed by ACCIÓ (Ministry of Business and Labour) under the RIS3CAT Communities call, design industries community, as a collaborative project of industrial research, experimental development and innovation.

The overall aim of the project is to implement on an industrial scale an innovative leather production process in order to keep making progress towards Zero Waste in the leather sector.

After almost three years of work, the results obtained are excellent compared with the current leather production process. The new systems and processes implemented in the INNPELL project offer solutions for minimising the use of chemical products, reducing water consumption, optimising the recovery of waste and significantly improving the treatment of wastewater.

The environmental improvements achieved in the INNPELL research project are very significant, such as a 40% reduction in water consumption, a 65% reduction in chemical products and the 100% reuse of solid waste such as fleshings and hair in the form of hydrolysates.

In addition, a new curing process that is 98% salt-free and hides that are 100% sulphide-free have been achieved, which brings a substantial reduction in the conductivity of the wastewater and an optimisation of treatment costs.

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