GOBACK in the tannery process

Project funded under the POR FESR Toscana 2014-2020 programme, Action 1.1.5 Sub. A1 Call for proposals N.2 - Research and development projects of SMEs

Objective

The GOBACK project stems from the need to recover finished leather which, for quality reasons, has been discarded by the various luxury brands for which it was destined: in these cases, given the exclusivity of the article produced, the discarded leathers are not marketable in any way and, on the contrary, more and more often their destruction is requested by the client brand (as usually established in supply contracts precisely to guarantee the exclusivity of the article produced to the brand itself). All this translates into serious economic damage for the tannery, which has to destroy highly valuable and costly finished articles, and for the environment, since the leathers discarded by contract usually have to be destroyed by thermal means (incineration), after a large number of chemical products, a certain amount of water and electrical and thermal energy have been used for their production. With regard to this context, GO BACK proposes to study and develop a new process aimed at recovering the discarded finished leather, which, by removing the finishing treatment, brings it back to the state of crust, i.e. semi-finished, so that it can be finished again and sent to the same or a new customer.

Innovation

The development of the new process of removal of the finishing layer, which in GOBACK will take the form of the realisation of a first prototype, is extremely innovative for the tanning panorama and has a strong impact on the economy of the sector. In fact, this new type of process will allow the creation of a new type of processing that can be carried out by tanneries and above all by their subcontractors, to whom the pre-finishing mechanical processing is commissioned. The new finishing removal plant, which can be interfaced with any company management system, will be equipped with a sophisticated process control system based on a specific sensor system able to self-adjust the intensity of the removal treatment according to the size and thickness of the leather to be treated, as well as in relation to the type of finishing to be removed, and a vision system to control the quality of the crust produced.

Partner

BCN CONCERIE SpA - Lead Partner, Tannery working for the big fashion brands
APUANIA CORSI SRL - Mechanical company that builds surface transformation plants
ING. FABIO BERNARDINI - Mechanical designer, freelancer
EUROSOFT SRL - Leading company in the development of CAD/CAM systems, hardware applied to the field of automation and vision systems