The chemical company based in Montebello Vicentino, working alongside the tanning industries all over the world for 34 years, confirms its leadership and concreteness in terms of sustainability
A very satisfying economic result, achieved during the pandemic, characterized by an increase in turnover higher in 2021 than in the “pre-COVID” years. As well as, a very important milestone represented by the achievement of the ZDHC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals) Level 3 certification: it is the trump card of SYN-BIOS SpA from Montebello Vicentino, a chemical industry that has been supplying the tanning industries all over the world for almost thirty-five years.
The path undertaken for some time by the Gastaldello family consists in the unceasing and tangile investments in sustainability, which in the last few years have also led to the creation of two new ranges of micro-dispersed pigments in a water-based medium one called “METAL-FREE”, The second “NIR TECHNOLOGY”.
The first range, METAL-FREE, is especially suitable for leather finishing, according to the UNI EN 15987:2015 standard: “Animal skin converted into leather, whose total content of tanning metals in the leather (chrome, aluminum, titanium, zirconium, iron) is less than or equal to 0.1% (mass of the sum of all metals / total dry weight of the leather).” The second range, NIR TECHNOLOGY, recommended specifically for automotive, have been developed on the basis of reflection of the solar spectrum in the near infrared region (Near Infrared, hence NIR). Normally, dark pigments absorb solar radiation and consequently heat up much more than light colors, which reflect up to 90% of the sunlight energy and therefore remain colder.
The sun’s radiation has a broad spectrum of wavelengths, including the near infrared (NIR) region, invisible to the human eye and responsible for the temperature increase of everything that is exposed to light. Light energy is absorbed by dark surfaces more than a light one and transformed into greater thermal energy.
Articles pigmented with NIR TECHNOLOGY colors, even the darkest ones, do not absorb near infrared radiation, but reflect them, and therefore they do not heat up like surfaces made with a normal non-IR reflective pigment.
This results in a temperature difference which is reduced up to 20°C. In addition to this peculiar characteristic, the colors, with high yield and coverage, have been selected and studied in order to guarantee maximum resistance to light fastness, migration on PVC and heat stability, as required in the manufacturing of articles for the automotive sector.
“The last year’s turnover, – confirms Enrico Gastaldello, at the head of the company together with his father Daniele, General manager and founder of SYN-BIOS- represents a very satisfactory result, which makes us proud.
2021 was certainly not an easy year, due to the well-known health problems linked to COVID-19, but, thanks to the successful work carried out both at the R&D and commercial level, in Italy as well as in several foreign markets where we have improved and strengthened the sales network, we have matched the percentage share of foreign turnover to the national one. Even in the complicated two-year period afflicted by the pandemic, thanks to the excellent relationships established over time, we have always been able to retain our loyal customers, who kept on doing business with us by virtue of mutual trust and professional respect.”
Enrico Gastaldello
As 2022 is starting, what response are you getting from the foreign markets with which you have resumed business?
“The situation is evolving in a patchy manner, depending not only on the macro-areas but also, in my opinion, on the single countries. Italy has shown a growth in turnover, helping us with the overall performance.
Another problem we have had to face, perceived everywhere at global level, concerns the excessive and uncontrolled increase in the cost of raw materials, which obviously forces us to raise our prices. Our customers have understood the difficulty of the moment: in the pre-pandemic period such increases would not have been understood and accepted.
A great accomplishment you have recently achieved is the ZDHC Level 3 certification, obtained in September 2021.
“Excluding large multinational companies, SYN-BIOS was among the very first completely private companies to obtain this certification, and the one with the largest registered product portfolio. Ours was a far-sighted choice: the official process has begun in March 2020, even if the idea was born a few years earlier, when the Project was mostly unknown to many. Today, the request for products compliant with the ZDHC list of restricted substances is the basic requirement for international brands and high fashion houses. As a matter of fact, level 3 is a further acknowledgement of conformity ensuring that the certified company completely manages the chemicals – and, therefore, also selects all suppliers completely manages the chemicals – and, therefore, also selects all suppliers – from the moment they enter the company to be processed, up to when they become waste. The entire supply chain is controlled and traceable. In addition, it is necessary to have full knowledge of the danger of the products used and to have implemented the most careful management of the related risks minimizing the possibility of accidents or occupational diseases, and environmental contamination. The certification process was carried out in-house by Dr. Giulia Fontana, technical director of SYN-BIOS, who, for the objective, dealt with it almost exclusively for a year and a half: she was among the first to believe in the project, to offer customers safer chemical products. One thing is certain: behind it there must be a solid and structured company, with a specialized and highly professional team able to undertake such a difficult task.”
What does this additional certification mean for you and your company?
“It is a very prestigious result, but at the same time it also confirms the further step linked to the entrepreneurial strategy: always having the best tools with which to deal with environmental and safety issues in terms of the health of the worker and the consumer, even anticipating legal obligations by far. It was a strategic investment, which places our range of products at the top of the quality level: everything is linked to the concept of circular economy, respect for the environment and the complete life cycle of the product, from production to the final consumer, in a certified and fully traced path. The level of information and training has been raised in all levels for greater awareness in the use of safer chemistry. Actually, every company should correctly manage the products in the different stages of the production process, from arrival to storage, from handling to wastewater disposal, to finally prove proactive in the replacement of dangerous chemicals.”
How difficult was it to achieve this result?
“It was a very challenging journey, not easy at all, as opposed to a standard certification for which it is necessary to prove that you own and correctly perform the work procedures required by legislation. First of all, to get the level 3 of ZDHC it is necessary to be certified according to the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards, the starting point for analyzing all company aspects, from suppliers’ selection, to the purchase specifications, to the analysis of raw materials, up to the management of substances in the production cycle: everything that may contain substances subject to restriction must be eliminated, fully controlling the Life Cycle Assessment. An additional difficulty was carrying out this project during the pandemic, which led to longer control times and difficulty in relating during third-party audits. The complexity of the process makes the achievement of Level 3 certification even more prestigious for those who obtain it. We can proudly say that we have succeeded, thanks to the commitment that characterizes us, which in this case, was truly remarkable in terms of human resources and economic investments.”
Do you believe that the Level 3 ZDHC represents a mandatory “passepartout” for the future? “Absolutely, in some respects it already is, as ompliance with a voluntary specification required by many tanneries. For a brand, as well as for the players in the supply chain, it is a strategic move in a market that is already changing to be increasingly sustainable. The analysis of every aspect of chemical management is a guarantee that allows the tannery to safely sell its items to brands and big firms, fully knowing that the leathers have been treated with 100% safe chemicals. On the ZDHC portal all our certified products are listed, so that any customer can be directly informed of what complies with the list of restricted substances. In this way the entrepreneur or the tanning manager can guarantee the best solution existing on the market: to date there is no safer and more reliable way to use ZDHC Level 3 certified products.”
