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This is the first time that this new and innovative treatment technology
is being used for wastewater in the tanning industry. The total
cost of the project is around SEK 50 million (EUR 5.45 million),
of which around SEK 8.25 million (EUR 900,000) was contributed by
the EU´s LIFE environmental fund.
Dynamic environmental policy
According to Elmo Leather´s CEO, Nalle Johansson, the company
has been pursuing dynamic environmental policies for many years.
Elmo´s management system for environmental work has independent
certification and the company has managed to reduce the environmental
impact of its activities over the years in terms of waste and emissions
to air and water.
By changing processes and chemicals and using traditional
techniques we had come as far as it was possible in tackling nitrogen
pollution in our wastewater. To make further progress and achieve
further improvements we needed to introduce a completely new treatment
process for the tanning industry, explains Nalle Johansson.
Micro-organisms eat pollutants
The new innovative technology used by Elmo is based on a process
called nitrification/denitrification, which is an advanced form
of biological treatment. The technology is used by municipal treatment
plants, but has never before been used in the tanning industry because
it was considered that the properties in tanning industry wastewater
were technically unsuitable.
The new technique means that pollutants are broken
down by micro-organisms in the water in a series of processes in
which the wastewater is treated in separated, but linked, tanks.
Oxygen is added to the wastewater initially, which
increases the number of micro-organisms. In the next stage, the
oxygen is cut off and the micro-organisms are forced to eat the
pollutants in order to survive.
The outcome is that nitrogen emissions are reduced
by 80% as most of the nitrogen-containing pollutants are converted
into nitrogen gas, which is the same gas that dominates the atmosphere.
Traditional wastewater treatment in the tanning industry cuts nitrogen
emissions by around 30%.
Staying in Svenljunga
At the inauguration of the new plant, Nalle Johansson admitted that
he shared the concern of people who feared that an increasing amount
of industrial production and thereby jobs were being moved out of
Sweden. He noted that Elmo Leather had done exactly the opposite
in recent years.
We have concentrated our production in Svenljunga
and moved production back to Sweden from Denmark and the US, he
said.
According to Johansson, after building the new treatment
plant, Elmo will base the predominant part of its future production
of leather at Svenljunga.
That does not mean that we will exclude the possibility
of locating certain parts of production, such as die-cutting and
sewing the finished leather, closer to our customers or in places
where it is cheaper to perform them. Our core activity, however,
the actual manufacturing of leather, will remain in Svenljunga,
says Elmo´s CEO.
EU support for innovative technology
The overall cost of the new treatment plant is around SEK 50 million
(EUR 5.45 million), of which Elmo contributed around SEK 42 million
(EUR 4.5 million). The company also received a subsidy of around
SEK 8.25 million (EUR 900,000) from the EU´s LIFE environmental
fund.
LIFE provides financing for projects that support
environmental protection and nature conservation throughout the
EU. The aim is to advance and develop EU environmental policies
by supporting reference projects that showcase innovative technology
or methods. LIFE projects shall act as good examples of how policies
can be converted into action. The supervisory authority for LIFE
in Sweden is the National Environmental Protection Agency.
Svenljunga, 1 June 2005
Elmo Leather AB
The Treatment Plant
The European leather industry consists of approximately 3000 tanneries.
The tanning industry is a potentially pollution intensive industry.
The main release from tanneries is into waste water and the industry
is consequently the cause of major environmental concerns.
Many cleaner technologies have been developed and
implemented over the past years, which have reduced the pollution
from tanneries considerably. However, tanneries still produce waste
water, which has to be treated with an end-of-pipe solution.
Typically nitrogen concentration is high in wastewater
and normally it is difficult to remove nitrogen due to its high
solubility. Nitrogen is a major problem in many countries in that
it causes the eutrophication of watercourses and the pollution of
groundwater, which is a source for drinking water.
Project objectives
The overall objective of the project is to improve water quality
in Europe by reduction of the nitrogen discharge from the leather
industry. The new wastewater treatment technology will be implemented
in the Elmo Leather AB tannery in Sweden. The technology will include
nitrification and denitrification processes in the treatment of
tannery wastewater to reduce the discharge of nitrogen. The expected
reduction of the nitrogen discharge is 80%, in comparison to 30%
which is expected to be achieved by traditional technologies.
During the project a new wastewater treatment plant
will be built to use nitrification and denitrification processes
for nitrogen removal from wastewater from the tannery.
The project results will be disseminated to other
tanneries in European countries via associations and industrial
organisations.
Activities
The following activities will be carried out in order to reach the
objectives:
1. Detailed technical design of the plant
2. Building and installation of wastewater treatment plant
3. Test trials of the plant
4. Monitoring of environmental effect
5. Dissemination of information
6. Management and reporting
Elmo Leather AB
Elmo Leather AB was founded in 1931. The Elmo Leather Group is the
world´s largest manufacturer of exclusive furniture leather
and one of the six biggest suppliers of leather to the automotive
industry, and operates worldwide in about 40 different markets.
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