LANXESS holds leather chemicals event

Industry experts gave presentations on leather-related topics.

Speciality chemicals company LANXESS recently hosted a symposium in the German city of Cologne on the use of leather as a component substrate. This event was in line with the company’s announced commitment to help brand owners and other industry stakeholders gain a better understanding of leather, especially with regard to the use of chemicals.

The symposium took place at the company’s headquarters and was attended by some 70 representatives of certification institutes and leading brand manufacturers from the apparel industry.

After the welcoming address by Luis López Remón, head of LANXESS’s Leather Business Unit, a number of industry experts gave presentations on such topics as the physical and chemical properties of leather and the different stages of the production process, risk assessment and current efforts to make the leather industry obligatory for a responsible use of the chemicals used, and special properties – including water vapour permeability, hydrophobicity and flame retardance. The behaviour of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was also discussed, and further presentations dealt with the conservation of leather to protect it from fungal attack and its classification in comparison with other materials, especially in terms of sustainability.

At the end of the event, Dr Dietrich Tegtmeyer, who is responsible at LANXESS for the global development of crusting and leather industry relations, highlighted an innovative technology for the recycling of leather shavings in leather production. Outlining a project called ‘resource-efficient production of leather chemicals’ (ReeL), he explained the workings of a modular, fully networked plant concept for the production of X-biomer retanning agents directly in the tannery, which was described as a foretaste of future leather production.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 4 of the March 2018 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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