JBS Couros, a subsidiary of JBS, has announced a contribution of 40 thousand euros (about 200 thousand R$) for the creation of a research center in Milan. In a statement, the company says the center's goal is to develop and support knowledge about biomaterials, their environmental effects, and establish production parameters and best practices. The organization will be managed by Spin 360, a consulting firm specializing in sustainable business models.
The announcement of the investment by JBS Couros was made by the two founding companies of the project, at an event prior to the Asia Pacific Leather Fair (APLF), one of the main trade fairs in the sector, held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The ceremony was attended by JBS Couros Sustainability Manager, Kim Sena, and Spin 360 CEO, Federico Brugnoli.
JBS Couros also announced that it has completed 36 new Lifecycle Assessments (LCAs), with 18 studies in its product line for the furniture market and 18 for the automotive market. The new LCAs reinforce the results of the first evaluation, carried out in 2020 in collaboration with Asiatan, which showed that the Kind Leather production concept has proven to be efficient, among other things, for its contribution to the generation of added value and sustainability to the leather production chain, from which waste becomes raw material for other markets, such as pharmaceuticals, in a context of circular economy.
The analyses considered all stages of leather processing, from the extraction of the raw material to the delivery of the product to the customer. According to the company, compared to the environmental indicators of conventional leather production, Kind Leather consumes less electricity (up to -62%), less chemicals (up to -40%), consumes 62% less water and generates less waste throughout its production (up to -93%).
