SMART CYCLE - "From tannery scraps to sustainable innovation"
A new project that combines craftsmanship and technology, the collaboration between D-house laboratorio urbano and the tanneries of Solofra, one of the leading Italian and European hubs for leather processing. This area boasts a long tanning tradition that dates back to at least the Middle Ages and is renowned for producing high-quality leathers for the fashion and luxury industries.
From September 17 to 19, at the D-house booth, the project SMART CYCLE - "From tannery scraps to sustainable innovation" will be presented. This ambitious initiative aims to transform by-products from leather processing into innovative and sustainable resources. The goal is to create new materials that meet the needs of the modern market, with a strong focus on sustainability. The project seeks to involve not only professionals from the leather industry but also players from other sectors, promoting a cross-disciplinary approach to experimentation and innovation.
Six dedicated hubs will represent six different creative processes, weaving sustainability and technology into a constant dialogue. Breaking traditional boundaries and exploring fields that are currently distant, such as interior decoration or 3D prototyping, along with processes like flocking or leather patchwork, are key elements of a narrative guided by a single common thread.
TILESKINS is a research and development project that explores new horizons in the leather industry. The name, a blend of "TILES" and "SKINS," reflects a reinterpretation of leather waste by envisioning it as a material for decorative surfaces.
Coatings with different textures and densities become a way to speak to interior design. Leather processing waste is selected, sorted by color and tanning method, compacted, and mixed with resins, transforming it from leftover material into a project outcome.
This is a new language that goes beyond traditional applications of leather products, exploring one of the countless possibilities this "material" can offer.
WEAVE BOND is an example of how embroidery can be used to recover and reuse crust leather scraps to create panels that, after being treated with traditional leather processing techniques, result in the production of regenerated leather material.
It is a true circular process, one that does not end, transforming waste material into recycled material—versatile and ready for countless applications in the fashion industry, where it reinterprets the concept of leather patchwork, as well as in other industrial sectors.
FLOTHER is an innovation project aimed at revolutionizing the flocking technique by combining it with leather powders, hence the natural blend of the two terms into FLOTHER.
This process, reminiscent of flocking—an industrial technique developed to create soft, suede-like surfaces—uses waste powders from the leather shaving process, maintaining a "velvet" effect both visually and to the touch, for endless aesthetic applications.
LEADERS: Leather Additive Environmental Recycling Solutions is the project approved by decree of the Ministry of Economic Development concerning the development of innovative solutions for the transformation and valorization of by-products from leather processing and their use in the production of new generations of high-value-added materials through Additive Manufacturing techniques.
The project is carried out under the initiative of the lead company Dyloan Bond Factory, in collaboration with the Stazione Sperimentale per l’Industria delle Pelli e delle Materie Concianti (Experimental Station for the Leather and Tanning Industry), which is responsible for the scientific coordination of the project
DECREE REFERENCES Decree no. 2480 dated August 7, 2023, by which the financial support was granted, based on the resources made available by ministerial decree of June 11, 2020 and the Directorial Decree of August 05 2020.
FINANCING ENTITY: MINISTRY OF ENTERPRISES AND MADE IN ITALY
3D SKINS The LEADERS project made possible 3D Skins, the capsule collection of accessories designed by Vito Colacurcio, which redefines the boundaries of rapid 3D prototyping by surpassing the limitations of commonly used materials, moving towards leather industry waste. These scraps, reduced to powder, become a resource and material for creating the "new." This circular process revolutionizes the concept of reuse, where creativity, technology, and sustainability come together to generate a new element, marking a new frontier in prototyping.
OFFICINA ZERO is the flagship project of L'Officina Chimica in Movimento, a company specializing in the supply of chemical products for the tanning industry, both in Italy and abroad. The project aims to enhance leather through an eco-friendly processing method, minimizing environmental impact and safeguarding workers' health. Il processo produttivo è estremamente sostenibile, con un consumo di acqua ed energia ridotto del 50% rispetto ai metodi tradizionali di concia al cromo e metal-free. Il cuoio risultante è completamente biodegradabile e compostabile, confermando L'Officina Chimica in Movimento come leader nell'innovazione della concia ecologica.
This tanning system represents a true revolution, relying exclusively on next-generation tannins derived from renewable plant sources, along with bio-based degreasing and fatliquoring agents.
The production process is highly sustainable, with water and energy consumption reduced by 50% compared to traditional chrome and metal-free tanning methods. The resulting leather is fully biodegradable and compostable, solidifying L'Officina Chimica in Movimento as a leader in ecological tanning innovation.
D-house laboratorio urbano, in collaboration with the tanning companies from the Solofra area, in the province of Avellino, aims to transform what is currently considered a disposal cost into new opportunities. The goal is to change the perspective of companies in the supply chain, encouraging them to explore new, reinterpreted, and recontextualized resources and products, in order to inspire fresh ideas and possibilities for the industry.From this dialogue between leading companies emerges a practical exchange of ideas, projects, and economic strategies, which will strengthen the Solofra area, now a promoter of an innovative and sustainable business model.
PRESENTED AND ORGANISED BY:
WITH THE COLLABORATION OF:
CONCEIVED BY:
TECHNICAL PARTNERS:
THANKS TO:
