We take the life cycle and impact of our shoes and the processes to manufacure our shoes very seriously and have done our best to select suppiers that have similar values. We will continue to investigate ways to make our shoes more sustainable and safer for the environment.
Our suppliers pioneering research has developed a process that does away with the need for toxic chromium, production at most other tanneries still requires the use of that substance. Its large world-class effluent treatment plant at Dewas includes a reverse osmosis unit — a first for the industry. "This plant is so effective," says Mr Bhirud, as he dips a glass into the clear water dripping out of the unit, "that it converts extremely toxic liquid waste to water that you can drink." He takes a large sip from the glass, to demonstrate. To reduce the plant's impact on the area's ground water, this water is fed back into the plant. Other water conservation efforts include on-ground and rooftop water harvesting systems.
Energy is conserved through a path-breaking solid waste recycling unit developed by the R&D team. This process, for which the company owns two patents, not only recovers enough resources — including chromium — for reuse in the main plant, it also generates substantial amounts of bio-gas for use as a supplementary source of energy in the main production process. To augment energy conservation, a large solar heating array has also been built and energy-saving measures have been incorporated into the production process.
After being the first company in the leather industry to achieve ISO 9001:1994 certification in 1995, our leather supplier was also the first company in the leather Industry to be recommended for ISO 9001: 2000 on July 19, 2002.
It also received ISO 14001:1996 certification on April 25, 2002 from RWTUV Germany for its all-round improvement initiatives towards environmental management systems. Anil Rairikar, CEO, TUV India Limited handed over the certificate to O K Kaul, president, leather and leather products, on July 19, 2002. Both the above certificates encompass the gambit of activities in the divisions handling finished leather, leather garments, footwear and footwear components.