Brazilian tanning industry body CICB hosted a successful edition of its sustainability forum at Fimec in Novo Hamburgo on March 8, reports Leatherbiz.

At this year’s event, the theme was ‘Paths To Traceability’ and a large audience heard presentations and comments from all parts of the leather supply chain.

CICB sustainability consultant Ricardo Andrade began the discussion with a presentation of the leather sector in Brazil at the moment, noting that 214 tanneries are active across the country at the moment. He pointed out that 78% of these companies already have some sort of sustainability certification in place.

After this, Jordan Timo Carvalho from a compliance consultancy called Niceplanet spoke about the benefits the cattle supply chain can gain from using geotechnology.

Technology was also the focus of the next two talks, but with a shift to technology for tanners. Domenico Feltre, director of tanning technology company Feltre, introduced the audience to a hide traceability system it has developed, Leather Tattoo.

Another leading figure in the Italian tanning technology, Cesare del Monte of GER Elettronica, followed this with a presentation of the company’s new artificial intelligence-based BE Process technology, a tanning process analysis system.

Representing Netherlands-based sustainable trade initiative IDH, the next speaker, Mathias Almeida from a Brazilian partner organisation called Natcap, presented a programme for sustainable cattle production in sensitive areas, including Amazonia, the Cerrado and the Pantanal. He said more than 500 farmers in these regions were already involved.

The 2023 Sustainability Forum closed with an animated panel discussion, chaired by CICB president, José Fernando Bello. Two of the four speakers, Francisco Olavo Pugliesi de Castro and Fernando Sampaio, represented meat industry organisations. The other two, José Roberto Pachecco from Midori Autoleather and Alisson Granemann de Medeiros from Viposa, represented the leather manufacturing sector.