What good is doing business if the environment doesn’t win, too!

The impact of the ‘Barbie’ incident two years ago when some of its products were found to have faulty designs or contain dangerous levels of lead cost Mattel tens of millions of dollars in share holder equity. It resulted in 21 million toy products being recalled. And recently Fisher-Price, Mattel’s parent, recently paid $2.3 million in civil fines imposed by the US Consumer Product Safety Board to settle claims.
Because of the risks and consequences, our customer brands, especially publicly traded customers, are under immense pressure to responsibly source and manage their respective product and material supply chains.
Today in the tanning industry, ‘traceability’ is becoming a buzzword at the brand level. Previously, finished leather tanneries were audited for environmental and human rights performance, but audits stopped there. No attention was paid to where hides were being sourced, or where and how the wet-blue was being produced.
I applaud the efforts of the Leather Working Group and others that have moved the focus further up the supply chain to identify hide origin and wet-blue supply. By overseeing the vertical chain from hides to finished leather, the industry can better identify and ensure that global tanneries and leather suppliers are operating in such a way that the environment wins, too.
We can better operate our tanneries, and be more environmentally responsible as an industry. It can be done! And it can be done properly. Today there are creative ways being implemented that reduce energy, water consumption and improve environmental performance, too. You’ve heard about the great things that Tom Schneider and Aquilles Bermudez have accomplished at their tanneries. At SRL we are reducing BOCs by reformulating and utilising different applications in our finishing operations. Our operations are using less energy and water. And SRL’s effluent treatment plant is adopting new management techniques and processes that allow us to operate using less water and energy, with almost nil odour.
Managing a tannery in Shanghai is no easy task. In addition to operating with world-class environmentals, it is paramount to manage community and neighbourhood relationships. At SRL we are producing leather which will meet all Chinese national, Shanghai and Baoshan district environmental standards. In addition, we have established programs that include an open-gate policy for community visitors, annual community workshops and open-house presentations, and monthly air testing by independent environmental firms open to the public. Today we are planning community outreach programs including discussions of the creation of a Green Committee with other local businesses.
As many in the trade have heard, Shanghai Richina is currently building a modern wet-blue facility located in Fuxin, China. A tremendous amount of effort has gone into the planning and building of SRL Fuxin’s ETP. We will produce wet-blue (and wet-white) with chrome recycling, wastewater recycling of 35%, and we will hit effluent discharge performance targets better than Chinese and global standards. We will hit discharge targets beyond what one sees today!
I believe that the tanning industry can operate in a way where the environment wins, too. What good is doing business otherwise?

Bob Moore
President and CEO,
Shanghai Richina Leather