New 'eco' tannery building complete
22/07/2009
The building for a new 'eco' tannery in Vietnam is complete and the company behind the venture, Sino-German tanning group ISA Tan Tec, held a topping-out ceremony to mark the occasion at the state of July.
The company inisists that the new facility in Ho Chi Minh City will use 35% less energy and 50% less water than the industry average to produce its leather.
By October, the workforce will have increased from 170 to 250 and ISA Tan Tec expects the tannery to be producing leather at a rage of 2 million square-metres a year using "as few resources as possible". The company is calling the leather it produces here LITE, for 'low impact on the environment'. Client organisations that will use LITE leather include Timberland, New Balance, Keen and Hush Puppies. The chief executive of Timberland, Jeffrey Swartz, has said of the product: "ISA's LITE leather is setting a new standard for the footwear industry."
At the ceremony, Tom Schneider, founder and chief executive of ISA Tan Tec, said: "People who buy outdoor products and high-quality shoes are particularly interested in the ecological balance sheet of the goods they purchase. Consequently, producers are looking to offer their customers 'green' products. To meet this demand, we are setting up this plant in Ho Chi Minh City."
The company already operates an eco tannery at its corporate headquarters in Guangzhou, China.
ISA Tan Tec is investing $8.7 million in the new tannery in Vietnam, which Mr Schneider says shows his company's commitment to investing in sustainable technology, even during a global economic downturn.
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