The Green Tannery Initiative: Enzymatic unhairing and sustainable waste utilisation in the Ethiopian Leather Sector

The project has made significant strides in its delivery over the last three months.

Tannery Baseline Survey:

Enabled through careful planning, training of survey staff and stakeholder collaboration, the baseline surveys for all ten functional tanneries in Addis Ababa and Modjo were completed successfully. This effort involved extensive preparations and collaborative engagements with the tannery management for gathering data and insights critical to the project. In October 2024, the project team did a comprehensive review of the collected data with a specific focus on carbon footprint determination methodologies to align with the project’s environmental goals.

Workshops and Stakeholder Engagement:

An Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) workshop was conducted in October 2024 in Addis Ababa, bringing together key stakeholders, including representatives from the Ethiopian government, UNIDO, LLPIRC and Ethiopian tanneries. The workshop emphasised cleaner manufacturing processes and safety protocols necessary in tannery operations. The project team, with the support of the Indian Embassy in Ethiopia, also held a stakeholder meeting in Addis Ababa in December 2024 to provide updates on project progress and facilitate discussions on tannery-related infrastructure, policy recommendations, and market expansion strategies.

Training Programmes:

Between October and December, 2024, the Green Tannery Initiative hosted two capacity-building programmes. The first was programme, “Orientation to Leather Manufacture” held at LLPIRC’s facility in Addis Ababa from December 9-13, 2024, aimed at equipping youth, including women, with semi-skilled knowledge of the leather value chain. The programme trained 22 unemployed youth, including 12 women, in the manufacturing of leather, footwear, and leather goods. The training provided an appreciation on the inclusive contribution of the leather sector for economic development and encouraging long-term career prospects in Ethiopia’s leather sector. The second programme, “Cleaner Leather Manufacture” was held from December 18-20, 2024, focused on production managers, providing insights into advanced sustainable technologies.

Technology Implementation:

The team has completed their trials of the five commercial enzyme samples identified. The purpose of the trials were to assess the enzymes’ activity profiles for suitability in the unhairing process.

In addition, and as part pf the team’s exploration of ways in which to utilise hair and fleshing waste, the team have finalised their testing of a thermochemical hydrolysis technology for manufacturing an organic supplement from animal hair waste. These innovations are crucial for promoting circularity and reducing the environmental impact of the leather industry.

GESI Considerations

The project team has several women in senior positions, thereby ensuring that GESI is considered throughout design and implementation. Two out of the five work packages are led by women scientists and CSIR-CLRI and three out of four senior scientists advising this work are women. The recent training programmes also made a concerted effort to ensure that women, youth and marginalised groups were involved. The project team observed a balanced gender workforce among the surveyed tanneries, which is an interesting observation that contradicts the male-dominated nature of this industry in other parts of the world.