University of Northampton students visit SilvaTeam
6 July 2011SilvaTeam, a producer of vegetable extracts and speciality chemicals for a variety of industries including leather recently invited students from the Institute of Creative Leather Technologies (ICLT), part of the University of Northampton, to visit the SilvaTeam manufacturing plant. The plant is based in San Michele Mondovì (in the province of Cuneo) and is located at the foot of the Alps that allows easy access to the chestnut woods, which are the valuable raw material of the Piedmont region.
On May 23, a group of 25 students along with teachers and senior technicians at ICLT, were welcomed to SilvaTeam by Eric Poles, Technical Manager. The visit consisted of a presentation of SilvaTeam activities where the students were introduced to the world of vegetable extracts and tanning chemicals followed by a tour of the manufacturing plant where they were shown the relevant production processes.
SilvaTeam is the worldwide leader of chestnut extracts with a market share of 60%, utilising annually around 350,000 m3 of chestnut wood to produce around 15,000 tonnes of chestnut extracts that are used in the manufacture of footwear soles for high quality footwear, leather goods and automotive leathers.
SilvaTeam technicians, with years of international experience, showed the students the experimental tannery where SilvaTeam invests considerable resources in research and development for the creation of new products and innovative applications for vegetable extracts and other chemicals as well as natural solutions for the ecological treatment of leathers with a low environmental impact. The visit gave the students the possibility to have a look at the practical world of work. SilvaTeam offers a number of opportunities to students that allow them to gain new insights and fresh perspectives needed to become future leaders.
