The ECOTAN revolution conquers China

A revolutionary innovation in the field of natural and eco-friendly leather production rocked the scene at the ACLE trade fair in Shanghai, attracting the attention of everyone present. Ecotan, presented for the first time at this prestigious event, ignited a fire of debate and sparked widespread enthusiasm. The Ecotan project represents a real breakthrough in the leather tanning sector, putting sustainability and environmental protection at the centre. Using state-of-the-art technology and natural, bio-circular tanning agents, this bold project offers an innovative metal-free solution to the environmental problems of chromium pollution that have plagued the leather industry for too long. As soon as the Ecotan technology was presented in the ACLE conference room, a great debate was started among industry experts who saw this technology as a potential catalyst for change. The energy and enthusiasm that pervaded the press conference clearly demonstrated the growing importance of environmental sustainability in the field of leather also in Asia, sparking widespread interest and prompting insiders to consider new ways of producing and using leathers.
Ecotan is more than just a green chemistry. It marks the beginning of a new era, in which beauty and fashion are combined with environmental responsibility that becomes the “purpose” of the company. It is an invitation to challenge old practices and embrace change towards a future to be reimagined. The presentation of Ecotan at the All China Leather Exhibition marked an epic moment. It shook the foundations of the Chinese tanning industry, raised important questions and inspired a new vision of the future of the sector, demonstrating that it is possible to combine innovation with sustainability, initiating a revolution that will spread throughout the industry, forever changing the face of fashion and ecology in Asia, as Alessandra Taccon, Ecotan Project Director at Silvateam, tells us live from the event. “Our Ecotan project has also officially entered China, an area of the world that has been looking at technological innovations with fresh eyes for some time now. We have been working on developing this initiative in the Asian region for about a year. Our first two Chinese partners are Argonaut and Zheng Long tanneries from Foshan, and today we are here at the World Trade Centre in Shanghai to participate in the conference, at the direct invitation of Deborah Taylor, Managing Director of the Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF), in order to present the idea of a transition to sustainable and environmentally friendly technology. During the conference, we illustrated three fundamental points. First of all, we discussed about the natural component of our formulation, which consists of the enhancing of a biological material, leather, with tannins from renewable sources. This concept places the importance of the origin of the materials at its core, in line with recent European regulatory developments. In particular, we focus on PEFC certified renewable sources, which comply with the new European “Deforestation Free” regulatory parameters that came into force in June 2023 with a global impact on leather.
Secondly, we have addressed the issue of “green chemistry” and its advantages. Apart from the natural base, within our formulations there are no toxic or potentially dangerous substances for humans or the environment. Moreover, as far as safety is concerned, in 2023 we joined the SLF initiative of 100% PFAS-free production (Forever Chemicals) and were ZDHC level 3 certified. In addition, we are committed to using completely metal-free technology with a low bisphenol content (target <200ppm), in some formulations reduced to zero. We have emphasized how environmentally friendly chemistry enhances the excellence of the leather even further by enabling optimal performance. Contrary to the claims of some critics, we are proving with facts that our technologies in Silvateam not only maintain, but improve the performance of the material.”
Leather bio-circulation and second life models have been widely discussed. How do you see future development?
“In the third part of the conference, we focused on material management in the after-life product phase, e.g. in the “second life”. Our transition to metal-free technologies, based on natural sources and with a strict selection of ingredients in the formulation, offers numerous opportunities in end-of-life management along the whole production chain. Our main challenge is to turn what was once considered waste into an ingredient. Therefore, we prefer to use the term “ingredient” instead of “waste”. We have shown that, for example, residual leather materials from cutting rooms of the brands, that often represent more than 50% of the initial amount and which usually remain on the floor and are then incinerated, can become a valuable component for the production of biofertilisers. Leather itself is a carbon- and nitrogen-rich material that can be used in a variety of ways, such as compost, biochar and in other circular economy processes. This opens up vast new perspectives for the tanning sector, encouraging cross- collaboration among different supply chains such as fashion, agriculture, fertiliser producers and the recycling industry to name a few.”
Why so much interest in cutting-edge technologies in a country almost entirely based on low-medium wet-blue production?
“During the conference, we noticed great interest and involvement from the participants. The presence of numerous guests confirms that the topic raises many questions. Despite the fact that we are in a country where mainly mass-produced products, so-called commodities, are manufactured, we noticed a considerable level of interest and openness towards innovation and the development of value productions in China as well. According to McKinsey, in 2023 luxury fashion revenues, in spite of global uncertainty, will continue to grow in China by an average of 9% to 14% and many brands such as Vuitton, Hermes and Ralph Lauren are opening new stores in emerging shopping hubs, thus fuelling the demand for premium leathers. The crisis in long-haul supply chains and the changes that have taken place in the market in recent years have prompted the country to consider new areas of growth, including green technologies especially in the automotive sector, which is in a deep transition towards electric, as the Xingye Group has confirmed to us. It is enough to book a taxi in China to understand the extension of the phenomenon.”
Where are your partner tanneries at in the adoption of second life models?
“Many of our partner tanneries have already successfully conducted tests on the bio-based content, on compostability and on biodegradability of our leather. For instance, a well- known Italian tannery – La Scarpa di Santa Croce – has already relied on Ecotan technology and gone down this road. In the future, we may see many other tanneries follow this model, given the growing demand from brands to concretely implement “good practices”. In short, the material treated with our technology and with its virtuous characteristics lends itself to a wide variety of recycling models. In fact, since its design, Ecotan leather has been conceived for responsible reuse within a supply chain, potentially related to various industrial players, even non-traditional ones.”
You have therefore created a true value chain?
“Certainly. The core of our proposal to the market is precisely the strength of the partnership that has been established throughout the chain of associated tanneries in so many different countries around the world, from Korea to Mexico to Brazil to China, in addition to Italy, Portugal and France. We have brought together under the umbrella of one “purpose” many different experiences and cultures, which are making the Ecotan alliance grow and are creating many even unexpected business opportunities and synergies. Above all, the direct involvement of brands in our project is generating, compared to the traditional B2B model, a strong added value in the understanding of consumer logics and trends, in the development of new-generation products, and in the level of transparency with which we work with all the companies in our network.”

Alessandra Taccon, Deborah Taylor and Thomas Yu