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Although strong environmental concerns have prompted Chinese authorities to close down over 20 tanneries across the country in the last year alone, Danish shoe manufacturer has succeeded in getting permission to open up a whole new facility in Xiamen in southern China. The reason: Ecco's tannery constitutes the very latest in leather treatment technology, wastewater treatment and working environment.
The new tannery, whose 200 million DKK price tag constitutes the biggest single investment in Ecco's history, opened its doors on Saturday, September 6 to a celebratory initiation with over 350 invited guests. The actual initiation was carried out by Deputy Mayor Huang of the city of Xiamen, together with Ecco's owner and chairwoman, Hanni Toosbuy Kasprzak.
"Ecco has contributed to the heightening of standards in Xiamen's leather and shoe industry", Ms. Huang announced at the initiation ceremony. According to the Danish company the new Xiamen tannery is the world's most environmentally friendly facility of its kind, an important factor in a production process that involves the use of over 100 different chemicals. The tannery includes a large wastewater treatment plant and is designed to utilize about 20% less energy than the norm.
Furthermore Ecco has taken pains to architecturally design the facility in as work friendly a way as possible. The building facade is covered in wood panelling as are the offices; emphasis has been placed on making every room well-lit and ventilated and the actual factory floors have high ceilings and large windows.
"Normal a tannery is a dark box nobody wants to work in", says Panos Mytaros, head of Ecco Leather Group. "We've created a bright and friendly factory that's supposed to be a nice place to work in." The new tannery is conveniently located right next door to Ecco's Chinese shoemaking factory.
Full story in Danish
News category: Denmark
Published on this site: Sep. 7, 2008
Source:jv.dk
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