The manager of the finishing Research and Development department explains the company’s environmental strategies
In line with the growing strategic importance of issues related to sustainability, TFL Italia is increasingly committed to the research and application of metal-free technologies for leather processing, designed for the automotive sector and for the production of leather goods and footwear. Significant resources have been invested in the formulation of low-impact and eco-sustainable compounds – completely free of chromium and formaldehyde, with a reduction in COD and BOD levels (index that identifies the biodegradability of a wastewater) in full compliance with the main international regulations and the specifications followed by most of the brands and manufacturers regarding safety, environmental protection and use of dangerous or restricted substances.
“For TFL Italia – explained Mr. Dario Lazzari, head of the Finishing Research and Development department – Sustainability represents a cornerstone of its industrial strategy, which has always been maintained. Ours is not a corporate slogan nor smoke and mirrors, as shown by the great efforts and considerable economic investments. Whether we will save the world, I don’t know, and maybe no one does, but certainly as a company we are using a lot of resources in this area, partly because we believe it represents a necessary path for the entire supply chain.” According to Mr. Lazzari, there are essentially three key points supported by TFL in terms of sustainability and environmental protection.
The first is that we ensure that the raw materials and items we produce have the lowest possible toxicity profile, we are certainly in compliance with the regulations. We do not use toxic products, and in case a raw material used in one of our products should become so because the classification has changed in the meantime, we go to work on that raw material to replace it with a new one that complies with the relevant regulations. It may seem obvious but it is not at all: having a range of products with a good toxicological profile is one of the targets we have set ourselves and which leads us, almost daily, to carry continuous checks and verifications.
The second aspect – continues the manager – is that we have already created a product portfolio, parallel to the traditional one, albeit with a smaller number of elements, made up of raw materials derived from renewable sources such as biomass instead of having a fossil origin (derived from oil). This is the case of the Roda Pure and Acquaderm Pure lines. The rule embraced by TFL is that the “PURE” brand is used only if within the product of this line there is at least 50% of raw materials coming from renewable sources.
The third and last point, but certainly not the least, is the fact that we are involved in a very demanding project for the LCA evaluation (the Life Cycle Assessment is a methodology that evaluates all incoming raw materials, energy, waste, etc. and output in the life cycle of a product, ed.) of our products, aimed above all at calculating the CO₂ emitted into the atmosphere, but also other impact categories that can be evaluated if necessary. We have started with the certification on finishing products manufactured in Buscate/Italy and are rolling at this process to our other production plants around the world. Our target, is to achieve a certification on the finishing products yet at the end of this year. Other groups in TFL have also started proceeding with the collection of a large amount of data, again aimed at the LCA evaluation. All this work will guarantee a general picture of ‘the environmental impact categories’ in TFL linked to our productions.
“As a matter of fact, for a group like ours – concludes Mr. Lazzari – the project linked to sustainability never ends, it is constantly evolving. There are new products to be included, or the chemical production processes of our products change and we must proceed with the recalculation.”
Dario Lazzari