PROJECT

Project LIFE ENV/IT/365 PODEBA “Use of poultry dejections for the bating phase in the tanning cycle” is presented by ENEA for call “LIFE +2010” and financed by CE.

The PODEBA project will demonstrate the eco-sustainability of using poultry manure for the ‘bating phase’ of leather tanning – a process whereby the hides for high quality leathers are treated with enzymes to soften them. The expected environmental benefits are as follows:

• Recycling and reuse – an innovative application of a waste (poultry manure) normally associated with high environmental problems in management and disposal;
• Significant reductions in the negative environmental impacts from tannery wastewater by using a natural product in the ‘bating’ process;
• The application of an innovative treatment able to deodorise the poultry manure;
• Use of recycled natural waste instead of industrial chemical products, with savings in costs and energy and water consumption;
• The application of innovative formulations of polyfunctional substrates for regulation purposes with active principles that enable controlled release;
• Production of high-end (fashion) leather products with anti-microbial, self-cleaning, biological, eco-friendly properties.

This is a demonstration project and it is related to the development of new products in the food industry, aimed at increasing the economic and environmental sustainability.

The project has a duration of 30 months from 1.1.2012 to 30/06/2014 and a total cost of € 1,200,668.00. The co-funding by the EU is 46.6% of that cost with a contribution, therefore, amounting to € 586,387.00