EVENTS
LEATHER IS UNIQUE AND INIMITABLE Outright success of participation in the 50th AICC Conference on 17 June in Solofra
ROBERTO MARIANO MECENERO AND FRANCA NUTI
Great participation of chemists and tanners at the 50th AICC National Convention which took place at the municipal headquarters of Palazzo Orsini in Solofra (Avellino), in the heart of the Campania tanning district, last June 17 with a captivating title: “The resilience of leather, unique and sustainable material. Challenge to so-called alternative materials”. An important comparison between experts in the sector to outline the future of the sector and more at local level. Roberto Mariano Mecenero, national president of leather chemists opened the meeting supported by Gaetano Maffei, head of AICC Campania, through a video projection that showed the warm welcome reserved by the Holy Father with his words of encouragement to the delegation of tanning chemists received in the Vatican on 29 January. The new mayor of Solofra, Nicola Moretti, did the honours, whose speech focused on the combination of work, culture and art, saying he was grateful to AICC for having chosen to organise the 50th conference in Solofra and recalling the importance of the tanning sector in the area where leather processing is an activity that has its roots in the mists of time as also demonstrated by the discovery of a tannery in the archaeological site of Pompeii. The microphone then passed into the hands of Graziano Balducci, president of the Italian Leather Research Institute located in Naples, who recalled the great transformation that has affected the research institute in recent times, starting with the transfer to the 14 ARSTANNERY
new headquarters in Pozzuoli which coincided with the renovation of the laboratories and the launch of very important projects on 19 different research lines. The conference then delved into the programme with the report by Luca Boltri, deputy director of UNIC, who presented the contents of the latest Sustainability Report of the Italian tanning industry. A study now in its 19th edition which aims to measure the environmental progress of the sector year after year according to strictly scientific criteria. The latest report confirms the strong commitment of the industry towards the ecological transition, in particular in terms of resource consumption rates which in the last twenty years have decreased by 40% for energy, by 15% for water and 8% for chemicals. The next intervention fell to Adriano Intiso - on behalf of prof. Stefano Cinti of the Federico II University of Naples who was unable to participate. Entitled “Leather and hoax: beware of fake news”, the report took stock of the Leather Decree no. 68/2020 which banned the use of the terms leather and hide for materials other than those obtained from animal remains, and talked about the importance of better communicating the circular nature of leather also, and above all, outside the sector. Also Biagio Naviglio, who has been a researcher and head of SSIP for many years, spoke about the uniqueness and sustainability of leather, recalling the inimitable properties of leather and how the tanning industry transforms waste into a durable product with high
