Expressnews
Chennai, June 22, 2022: Solidaridad Regional Expertise Centre along with its partners – Politecnico Internazionale per lo Sviluppo Industriale ed Economico (PISIE), Indian Finished Leather Manufacturers and Exporters Association (IFLMEA), Council for Leather Exports, Tata International Limited and the European Union (EU) today launched an EU-India sustainability project for the leather clusters in Tamil Nadu. The project ‘Promoting circularity in the Tamil Nadu leather clusters for solid waste management’ is a 42-month initiative funded by the European Union under its SWITCH-Asia Programme, which promotes sustainable consumption and production across the Asia-Pacific region.
The project was launched by Hon’ble Minister, Thiru Siva. V. Meyyanathan, Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Tamil Nadu and H.E Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Union to India.The event also bought together a number of participants from India and EU including, Council for Leather Exports, key industry leaders and the representatives from development partner communities. The event was attended by around 140 participants and was graced by an eminent panel of speakers, such as Mr. Sanjay Leekha, Chairman, Council for Leather Exports, Mr. R. Selvam, Executive Director, Council for Leather Exports, Ms. Monika Khanna, Country Head, Solidaridad India, et al.
In line with Tamil Nadu’s effort to transition to a resource-efficient and circular economy model, this initiative supports clusters to adopt cleaner and sustainable production practices. This initiative entails pilot demonstration of sustainable technologies at the tanneries.
The EU is India’s third largest trading partner, with Europe being one of the largest markets for Indian leather products. The EU’s support to this initiative is in line with India’s development priorities. Speaking on the occasion, Mr.Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Union to India, said, “We are very pleased to collaborate with Tamil Nadu on this project as sustainability, circular economy and resource efficiency are key pillars of the EU-India partnership. This project will not only help to reduce environmental footprint of the tanneries but also improve health and safety conditions of the workers and taking India a step closer to fulfilling SDGs.”
With large number of tanneries located in Tamil Nadu, it is the key centre for the leather industry in India. The industry mainly processes semi-finished leather into finished and value-added products for export. The project, supported by the European Union, will follow four key approaches:
– Solidaridad will work with its partners and technical experts to demonstrateseries of circular tanning and waste to value technologies at cluster level.
– Tannery workforce will be capacitated on better tanning practices, solid waste management and occupational health and safety through training-of-trainers programme.
– Sectoral cooperation and market linkages for ‘waste to value’ products will be facilitated by engaging with potential national and international off-takers. A digital portal as Sustainability Matrix for the betterment of the industry will be introduced.
– A public-private partnership platform will be established that represents the interests of key stakeholders. These stakeholders will come together to create a roadmap for improving waste management at the cluster level.
Hon’ble Minister Sh. Thiru Siva V Meyannathan, Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Tamil Naduhighlighted that addressing the environmental challenges in the state, mainly polluted water bodies and waste management is a priority. This project is targeting waste management and it focus on promoting circularity has come at an opportune time, this will complement with the ongoing initiatives of the Government. On behalf of the Government of Tamil Nadu, he assured to extend his utmost support and cooperation to achieve the project goals.
His Excellency Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of European Union to India highlighted that this initiative is indeed a strong expression of commitment to adopt cleaner production processes in the Tamil Nadu leather clusters. European Union has made Sustainable Consumption and Production a priority, thus this project is relevant. Leather Industry is one of the highest forex earners and generates high employment. He said that that the project will be very beneficial to the leather stakeholders in Tamil Nadu.
His Excellency Vincenzo de Luca, Ambassador of Italy in India mentioned that this project will enhance the partnership between Italy and Tamil Nadu specifically towards technology know-how and circular economy in leather sector. Leather is equally important for Tamil Nadu and Italy. He mentioned that this project is particularly important as Italy is a part of the consortium through PISIE.
Ms. Supriya Sahu, Principal Secretary, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, mentioned that the state has planned to assess the industrial sector’s environmental sustainability features through green rating mechanism. An index based assessment shall be brought in place to achieve desired goals. It will be developed in consultation with the department of industries, Government of Tamil Nadu and industry stakeholders. The aim of green benchmarking is to incentivize willing industries to move towards green and clean technologies. This initiative will be implemented through a consulting mechanism.
The event gave a special tribute to Mr. Mohamed Hashim Malack, who is the Doyen of Indian Leather Industry and Chairman, KH Group. He acknowledged that this is one of the most important projects for leather sector in Tamil Nadu.
Padma Shri Mr. Rafeeque Ahmed, Chairman, All India Skin and Hide Tanners and Merchants Associations (AISHTMA) highlighted that waste management needs to be critically looked at for the sustainability of the leather sector. Thus, techno-commercial viable interventions are need of the hour, which the project will introduce through its initiatives.
Mr. K.R Vijayan, Chairman, Indian Finished Leather Manufacturers and Exporters Association appreciated Solidaridad for making efforts to address the issues of waste management and resource efficiency in the leather sector for Tamil Nadu.
Contact details for more information:
Solidaridad Regional Expertise Centre, India
Venkaiah Vadlamudi,
Senior Program Manager- Leather
email: [email protected]
Phone: +91-8897691020
