New industry standards force the leather industry to accelerate transformation

According to Chen Zhanguang, deputy secretary-general of the China Leather Association, the national environmental protection standard “Tanned and Fur Processing Industry Water Pollutant Emission Standard” after the second consultation is expected to be officially released this year. In addition, the first draft of the “Tanning Industry Access Requirements” drafted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology commissioned by the China Leather Association has also been basically completed and is expected to be introduced at the end of this year or early next year.

Can the leather industry take the initiative to transition?

The pollution mainly comes from tanning, mature management technology, and the cost of governance is within affordable scope. "Beautiful China calls for ecological manufacturing. The increasingly stringent environmental protection standards will force the leather industry to accelerate the transformation and upgrading, and develop an environmentally friendly, resource-saving green leather industry." In an exclusive interview with the China Environment News reporter, Su Chaoying, chairman of the China Leather Association, said that the leather industry has come to an era of sacrificing the environment in exchange for development. As a bridge and link between the government and enterprises, the association has the responsibility to promote the overall health of the industry. development of.

In the main work schedules formulated by the China Leather Association in 2013, prepare clean production technical guides, carry out environmental verification of the tanning industry, promote and train technologies and standards, carry out the construction of demonstration sites for undertaking transfer and tanning bases, and environmental protection for old bases. Improvement work was placed in a prominent position.

"As far as the characteristics of the leather industry are concerned, the leather industry itself is an industry that meets the requirements of the circular economy. It transforms waste animal skins into bright, bright leather, and eventually produces various leather products. This process not only avoids The waste of raw hides and the environmental pollution caused by decay and deterioration, and the full use of raw hides is completed." Su Chaoying believes that the main pollution of the leather industry is from leather, so in order to ensure the sustainable development of the industry, the energy conservation of the leather industry Rows are also an important task for the leather industry to explore the circular economy.

According to statistics, the amount of sewage in the tanning industry in China is about 120 million tons/year, which is about 0.5% of the total industrial wastewater volume in the country. The current pollution control technology has matured and the cost of treatment is within an affordable range. The average cost per square foot of leather is approximately 0.1 to 0.3 yuan. At the same time, the industry is paying more and more attention to tanning and clean production technologies, among which the recycling of waste chrome liquid waste ash, hair removal and hair removal, resource utilization of solid waste, and reuse of recycled water have been promoted in the industry.

At the beginning of 2010, China Leather Association took the lead in setting up the “Tanning Industry Environmental Self-discipline Action Team”. Among them, assisting the Ministry of Environmental Protection in conducting environmental inspections has become a key task. At present, 67 tanning enterprises have passed the verification of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and are included in the tanning industry. Industry environmental compliance announcement list.

Can ecological leather save the industry?

Ecological leather production capacity accounts for 1/8 of the total production capacity. Significant achievements have been made in energy conservation and emission reduction. In 2003, the Chinese Leather Association launched the “Eco-Leather” brand for ecologically finished leather on the basis of the “Leather Logo” and the production process of finished leather. Cleanliness and ecological performance of products have made clear requirements.

“From the introduction of eco-leather to now it has been developed for nearly 10 years. From the initial 12 eco-leather enterprises to the current 49, the capacity of eco-leather enterprises has reached about 1/8 of the total capacity of the tanning industry in China.” Su Chaoying told According to the reporter, eco-leather promoted the tanning industry to raise awareness of environmental protection, actively adopted cleaner production processes, green chemicals, and advanced tanning equipment to produce leather that meets the requirements of domestic and international markets. At the same time, eco-leather is required to increase environmental protection management by tanneries. Governance, the use of advanced and effective sewage treatment technology, fully reflects the environmental protection concept in every aspect of tanning and sewage treatment.

According to the annual statistics of eco-leathers, the eco-leather enterprises achieved remarkable results in energy conservation and emission reduction in 2011. In the case of the same output as the previous year, wastewater discharges decreased by 3.7%, ammonia nitrogen emissions decreased by 9.6%, and COD emissions decreased by 7%.

"In order to encourage more leather sign companies to use eco-leather, the future will also organize the establishment of a leather logo and eco-leather cooperation alliance." Su Chaoying revealed to reporters, through the effective docking of the upstream and downstream industry chain, enhance and demonstrate the ecological characteristics of the entire leather industry chain To meet consumer demand for eco-green leather products.

How to deal with environmental pressure?

The development of the leather industry must be environmental protection first, and the issue of “life” is merely empty talk. “In spite of the objective point of view, although there have been many achievements, the pressure on the industry is still very high.” Su Chaoying believes that the main difficulties and challenges are mainly reflected in the following In terms of the following aspects: First, the national environmental protection requirements and standards have become more stringent. Enterprises must constantly adjust their product mix and adopt new technologies to meet increasingly higher demands and standards. Second, the issue of lax enforcement of environmental laws still exists. Some Inadequate supervision by local government departments has caused some non-standard small tannery workshops that should have been closed early. However, how to deal with the relationship between development and environmental protection remains a major challenge. The development of developed eastern regions has now reached a certain height, not only With financial support, technical capabilities can also meet higher environmental protection requirements. However, in the process of undertaking the transfer, the central and western regions must not only solve the problem of labor employment, increase the income of ordinary people, but also take environmental protection into consideration. This is somewhat contradictory. “In this process, the government, the enterprise, and the law enforcement agencies must reach a consensus that the development of the leather industry must be based on the principle of environmental protection first, and the issue of whether or not the students are just empty talk. Once the environment has not kept up, the national environmental protection heavyweight has fallen. Enterprises must shut down or suspend production, and people can't talk about employment and prosperity at all.” Su Chaoying said frankly.