Bio Leather thanks to Olive Tanning Agent

The world production of around 15,000,000 t of olives per year leaves enormous amounts of waste behind. These include olive leaves as well as olive oil waste water and olive pomace (Pomace, Alperujo). These are only poorly biodegradable because they have a high phenolic content. In regions with large olive cultivation this can lead to significant environmental pollution. At the same time, the leather industry is interested in new, environmentally friendly processes, as it uses many hundreds of thousands of tons of heavy metal and petrochemical reactive tanning agents worldwide every year. Improper use poses health risks, which is associated with gross environmental pollution.

Olive tanning agent with crosslinking properties

Based on olive leaves as a renewable raw material, wet-green GmbH has developed a natural olive tanning agent with crosslinking properties and derived an environmentally friendly tanning process. In olive-growing regions, the use of olive residues minimizes environmental pollution. At the same time, the use of harmful tanning agents and other chemicals in the tanneries can be significantly reduced. The resulting tanning waste and wastewater are also non-toxic and can be disposed of more easily.

Leather tanned with wet-green® technology meets the requirements in terms of aesthetics, practicality and functionality and meets the requirements of the automotive, furniture and shoe industries. Its colors are comparable to leather that has been tanned with mineral salts.

www.olivenleder.com