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Environment

Respect for the environment and the animals with which we share our world, respect for the natural resources we use in our process
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Social

Respect for the people who work in our supply chain and those who use our Products
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Governance

Open and inclusive approach to collaborative stakeholder relationships and shared responsibilities
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Focus & Best Practices

Specific insights for a concrete, comprehensive commitment to sustainability
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Message from the President

For more than 20 years, we at UNIC Concerie Italiane (the Confindustria member association that has represented the Italian tanning industry nationally and internationally since 1946) have been telling the story of our sector’s commitment to sustainability on environmental, social, ethical and economic levels. The range of analysis covered by our monitoring has broadened over time, becoming enriched with insights, topics and content, also in order to meet new demands (often anticipating them) for information on sustainability that have evolved over the years, both in the technical debate of the supply chain and in the broader one of public opinion and legislation.

From 2003 to 2023, every year we published the results of this monitoring in the Sustainability Report of the Italian Tanning Industry, one of the first and longest-running examples of this kind in Italy for an industrial sector.

We now raise the bar, choosing to create a more timely, flexible and accessible communication tool -this website – in which to channel all the information, data, projects, activities and best practices found in the report throughout these years.

The goal remains the same: to measure and communicate Italian tanneries’ commitment and activities to promote truly sustainable production and consumption. We give substance to this intention through the promotion of research and innovation, with the aim of reducing impacts and making products that are safe for people’s health. Above all, we want to achieve this through continuous dialogue with all our stakeholders: from the supply chain to institutions, public opinion and civil society, in order to maintain that vision of sustainability we have matured over time and which we want to share with our communities, enriching it with further values.

Fabrizio Nuti

UNIC – Concerie Italiane
Nuti Ivo Group President

Learn about the Italian tanneries and other companies
that have contributed

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTS GOALS

Our commitment to sustainability within the global framework For several years now, the Italian tannery has communicated its values, goals, activities, impacts and results through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), defined by the UN in the 2030 Agenda and articulated in 169 targets, along with the European Green New Deal. This requires a great commitment, but these goals also represent an opportunity for development and growth, contributing to change not only in manufacturing and supply chain characteristics, but also in consumption patterns.

Learn about the SDGs particularly relevant to the Italian Tanning Industry

Tanning is one of the first industrial activities to develop in countries with a strong agricultural identity. It is thus also one of the most widespread worldwide, especially in both least developed countries (LDCs) and developing countries (DCs), where it plays a crucial role in providing income and employment.
Italian tanneries’ strong focus on the health of workers, customers and end consumers has yielded important results in terms of preventing accidents and occupational diseases, reduced workplace injuries, and product safety
Training has always played a key role for the entire leather supply chain, not only in relation to the development and qualification of employment, but also to companies’ ability to remain competitive over time.
To avoid impacts on the ecosystem, Italian tanneries use state-of-the-art, often consortium-based treatment plants specialising in purifying tanning effluent. This is a strong, long-established commitment that came even before the first wastewater management legislation.
Despite the fact that leather processing is not energy intensive in itself, the Italian tanning industry has considerably decreased the amount of energy used in the production process; it has simultaneously worked to increase the use of renewable sources within its supplies and deploy high-efficiency cogeneration plants.
The Italian tanning industry mainly consists of small and medium-sized family-owned enterprises in which modern technological processes are accompanied by marked artisan creativity. Business continuity is essential in ensuring adequate and high-level operator specialization.
Numerous best practices have been implemented throughout the leather processing chain to minimise, recover and/or reuse production waste within the supply chain itself or in other sectors.
As a highly bio-based material, leather is itself an important tool for CO2 trapping. LCA analyses of production processes have led to the definition of strategies and activities to further reduce climate-altering emissions.
The sustainability of leather stems from the responsible management of raw materials and minimizing impacts on natural ecosystems. UNIC has always supported the supply chain in projects for animal welfare and against deforestation and environmental degradation.
The tanning industry only operates in one part of the leather supply chain; therefore, analysing and measuring the sustainability of the material also requires the strong, active involvement of the other players in the industry and all relevant stakeholders.

Italian Tanning Industry Numbers

– DATA 2023 –

555

Companies

1

Employees

1

Millions of square metres
Production volume

1

Billions of euros
Production value

1 %

European Production (Value)

1 %

World Production (Value)

Supply & Value Chain

The leather supply chain has unique characteristics, in that it is linked to the recovery of a waste product from the meat industry: raw hides. A chemical-mechanical re/upcycling process in tanneries then transforms it into a high-performance material that has always been intended for various manufacturing uses. Therefore, the principle of the leather supply chain can be traced back to the upstream part of the meat chain (farming, slaughterhouse), while the value chain begins after the animal is slaughtered, when the leather acquires a nature of its own.