LINEAPELLE FASHION STUDIO
Until the beginning of the last century, most master glove-makers purchased alum tanned leathers, which made it relatively easy to recognise their merits and faults and, most importantly, their suitability for making special glove models. Today, however, the introduction of chrome tanning and the improvement of tanning and dyeing systems for glove leathers have led to the centralisation of raw materials into leather and then into gloves in single industrial complexes.
Unlike all other kinds of leather placed on the market already finished – i.e. ready to be transformed into a manufactured product – glove leather must undergo complex preparatory work.
For instance, when producing footwear or other manufactured goods, the most widespread type of leather employed has compact fibres, little elasticity and a smooth surface. The leather is cut in the same way as the fabric to manufacture a suit.
On the other hand, glove leather is more or less soft and elastic, with a natural, unfinished and generally shiny surface. The master glove-maker must take into account different elasticity and thickness characteristics when cutting it, with the latter being somehow mitigated by ‘refining’ or ‘buffing’ the leather being processed.
As part of the Chiroteca Business Network, the Gargiulo leather tannery specialises in the production of glove leathers
Size 4-8 square feet sheep skins (Ovis aries aries), with different processing; natural, finished, printed, laser-treated.
Intended use of the leather on exhibit:
Glove making, clothing, footwear and leather goods.
Group 1
Sheepskins, aniline, suede.
Group 2
Double-face merino leather.
Tumbled sheep leather.
Group 3
Buffed, waxed and/or dyed leather.
Group 4
Laminated finish leather.
Group 5
Leather that underwent innovative processing: laser, screen printing, printing.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND SUSTAINABILITY
Research by SSIP focuses on the development of innovative solutions enabling the design of strategies for using waste from the tanning industry, as well as waste from the leather processing chain.
Purpose of the research concerning Circular Economy brought forward by the Italian Leather Research is testing the main strategies for transforming and using waste from the tanning industry scraps, through physical-mechanical, chemical, biotechnological-enzymatic treatments. New applications also include additive manufacturing to reduce the tanning sector’s impact and increase its sustainability, giving new value to waste material.
The main challenges relate to processing approaches for solid tanned waste, which is characterised by significant chemical complexity, compared to waste generated upstream of the tanning stage, from which protein sources for use in fertilisers, biostimulants, and food gelatins can easily be obtained.
Through new approaches to transforming solid tanned waste, processes are currently being tested to obtain circular materials to use first in the tanning process, and then in other sectors of fashion, luxury and design.
Physical/mechanical treatment of solid leather waste;
Additive manufacturing to exploit solid leather waste (including chemical/enzymatic/physical pre-treatment) and development of a new generation of products for the fashion and design industry;
Ball milling treatment for solid leather waste to enhance and develop a new circular finish;
Different types of enabling approaches to exploit solid leather waste for the development of new chemical products and composite/circular materials.
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION FOR LEATHER SUSTAINABILITY AND CIRCULARITY
NANOTECHNOLOGIES
BIOTECHNOLOGIES
PRIMARY ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES
SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES
e.g. new sustainable molecules, zero-chemical treatments
ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES
e.g. Industry 4.0 and Smart Factory approaches for automation and remote process control; non-destructive testing of Additive Manufacturing products
MAIN CHALLENGES FOR THE LEATHER TANNING INDUSTRY
BIODEGRADABLE
SUSTAINABLE
SMART
CIRCULAR
DURABLE
HIGH-PERFORMING
HYDROTHERMAL LIQUEFACTION
The Italian tanning industry comprises around 1200 companies. Italy produces 130 million square metres of finished leather every year, valued at EUR 5 billion (more than 70% of which is exported).
The tanning industry involves the use of advanced plants for treatment of tanning effluents to produce liquid effluents in accordance with the law. The by-product of these treatments is the tanning sludge, which amounts to approximately 1 tonne per tonne of raw hide to be treated. In a circular economy perspective, exploiting the organic content of tannery sludge to produce energy carriers is a promising strategy to limit its waste, with obvious multiple benefits for the environment.
SLUDGE
HTL process
REACTOR
Products separation protocol
SOLID RESIDUE
BIO-CRUDE
AQUEOUS PHASE
Products yield and characterisation
*Hydrothermal treatment (HTL) of a sludge/biomass to obtain bio-crude
GASIFIER
SYNGAS
(H2+other components)
>treatments >combustion >energy
ASHES
(disposal, reuse in construction materials or as an adsorbent to purify an effluent from e.g. metals)
GASSING AGENT
(e.g. nitrogen, water vapour)
SOLID
(e.g. biomass, sludge)
energy