Tamil Nadu Environment Minister Siva V. Meyyanathan and Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to India H.E Ugo Astuto, on Wednesday, launched an EU-India sustainability project for leather clusters in the State.
The project— ‘Promoting circularity in the Tamil Nadu leather clusters for solid waste management’— is a 42-month initiative that is funded by the EU under its SWITCH-Asia Programme, which promotes sustainable consumption and production across the Asia-Pacific region.
It aims at promoting circular market-based models by establishing pilot demonstrations on environmentally sustainable leather processing practices and creating capacities among small and medium-sized enterprises’ tanneries and their industry partners.
Sectoral cooperation and market linkages for ‘waste to value’ products will be facilitated by engaging with potential national and international off-takers. A digital portal with the Sustainability Matrix for the betterment of the industry will be introduced under the project.
A public-private partnership platform will be established to represent the interests of key stakeholders. These stakeholders will come together to create a roadmap for improving waste management at the cluster level.
Mr. Meyyanathan said addressing the environmental challenges in the State, mainly polluted waterbodies, and waste management was a priority for the government. He also assured support for the project.
Mr. Astuto said the initiative was indeed a strong expression of commitment to adopt cleaner production processes in the Tamil Nadu leather clusters. Vincenzo de Luca, Ambassador of Italy to India, noted that the project would enhance the partnership between Italy and Tamil Nadu, specifically towards technology know-how and circular economy in leather sector.
Ms. Supriya Sahu, Principal Secretary, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, said the State had planned to assess the industrial sector’s environmental sustainability features through green rating mechanism. An index-based assessment shall be brought to achieve desired goals.
