Zero Impact leather helps Aku achieve environmental certification
17/11/2017
The EPD certificate, awarded only to products that meet stringent environmental impact guidelines by independent body the International EPD System, has gone to Akus’s Bellamont Plus shoe, which the brand describes as one of its “premium travel and urban outdoor models”.
Like other Aku shoes and boots, the Bellamont Plus uses extensively Zero Impact leather from Arzignano-based leather manufacturer Gruppo Dani.
Dani introduced Zero Impact leather in 2015 but focused at first on furniture brands. In 2016, Aku became the first footwear manufacturer to sign up for Zero Impact and has continued to use the leather in its products. In the case of the Bellamont Plus, the upper is made from a Zero Impact nubuck article, while the lining is from another full-grain leather in Dani’s Zero Impact range.
Zero Impact leather is chrome- and heavy metal-free and is the result of new heavy metal-free tanning technology, based on the use of enzymes and polysaccharides, that Dani spent around 10 years developing before the launch. It says the new system produces leather with the same physical and mechanical characteristics as leather processed using more widespread production methods. Other major technological innovations it points to on the road to Zero Impact tanning include an oxidative unhairing operation that uses hydrogen peroxide within a special polypropylene drum.
In addition, Gruppo Dani announced in 2015 that it will now offset all of its carbon emissions by helping to fund a range of reforestation projects.
The certification process for Aku’s Bellamont Plus stretched over a 12-month period. The footwear brand has said it will give retailers and end-users documented reassurance that Aku has “a transparent and responsible approach to its product design and production processes”.
Share this story:
