Sustainability

For several years, the tanning industry has been working hard to improve its environmental, social and economic sustainability. There are major challenges to be met in terms of sustainability: complex chemical processes, high energy consumption and waste management are just some of the issues that require critical thinking and effective action.

However, in recent years, new strategies have been implemented, adopting innovative technologies and establishing collaboration between key stakeholders to promote more responsible production.

The main areas of interest for sustainability in the tanning sector are:

  • Water Management: The tanning industry requires a significant amount of water for its production processes. For several years now DEAN has been implementing strategies and practices to reduce water consumption, improve water efficiency and address waste water quality issues.
  • Waste and pollution management: The tanning industry has traditionally been associated with high waste generation and pollutant emissions. The policies and technologies adopted to reduce, recycle and dispose of waste responsibly, as well as to limit pollutant emissions, are continuously analysed.
  • Social impact: in addition to personnel management policies and practices, including aspects such as occupational safety, employee welfare and the promotion of ethical labour relations, another issue of great interest to DEAN is animal welfare. Work is underway to raise awareness among raw material suppliers to provide documentation or certification of good husbandry and slaughtering practices.
  • Transparency and stakeholder engagement: DEAN started in 2021 to disclose its sustainable performance and in 2023 began implementing blockchain to ensure the greatest possible transparency of its production process.

Leather is a bio-based material, i.e. at least 85% composed of collagen, an organic material that is completely bio-degradable at 100%, is durable and possesses a high degree of reparability, which allows its life cycle to be further extended.
Contrary to popular belief, 99% of the leather used by the tanning industry is waste from the food industry and its use prevents it from being disposed of as waste. Furthermore, waste from tanning can be recovered and reused in the agricultural, construction, cosmetics, food, etc. sectors. These two elements make tanning production an interesting application case of circular bio-economy.

Sustainability Report 2024

DEAN is aware of the value of sustainability and with care, sensitivity and commitment works to reduce environmental impacts, ensuring the best quality of leather. An approach that, in recent years, uses constant and accurate monitoring, which accelerates the road to innovation and transparency in production processes.
Download our Report
arrow-uparrow-right-circle