Investment pays off for PrimeAsia
Multi-stakeholder body the Leather Working Group has awarded leather manufacturer PrimeAsia a gold rating for its tannery in Vietnam.
PrimeAsia said it believed this success to be the result of an investment of more than $40 million in technology advancements at the facility in Ba Ria-vung Tau in the south of the country. It said these investments had positioned PrimeAsia Vietnam as being “amongst the most modern and efficient tanneries in the world”.
It explained that the innovations it had installed at the tannery had allowed it to increase its production capacity there to more than 6 million square-feet of finished leather per month.
Its investment has focused on reducing the amount of energy and water it uses in processing at the plant. This has included the expansion of water recycling, renewable energy and further improvements in safety and waste management.
It said it was on course to meet a target of reducing the amount of fresh water used in production by 30% and energy by 15% by 2023. Other targets are to increase the amount of recycled water and renewable energy used in the process to 70% and 75% respectively.
At the time of the announcement, chief executive, Jon Clark, said: “We are very proud of the results of this audit. It shows the importance of having long-term strategies for sustainability. By having clear goals, we were able to create the structure to supply a sector that is becoming more demanding every day in terms of speed, quality and innovation, without losing our focus on cleaner production methods.”
