As of January 2022 Superior, a Tuscan company founded in 1962 and operating for over 50 years in the field of luxury leather for high fashion, will be the first tannery in the world to boast Carbon Neutral certification.
The Tuscan tannery continues to concretely improve the environmental sustainability of its excellence in the sector. In addition to the implementation of technical solutions to reduce the environmental impact, thanks to special collaborations with the Normale University of Pisa and the Navacchio Technological Pole, the company raises its sights to Carbon Neutrality, and does so before any other tannery, once again underlining its excellence and farsightedness in the green field.
"My vision as an entrepreneur was to create a balance between medium and long term benefits, guaranteed by projects of industrial innovation and energy efficiency, with the investment in Carbon Credits for the neutralization of emissions, effective from the beginning" explains Stefano Caponi, CEO. Superior Spa.
After calculating its greenhouse gas emissions through the Carbon Footprint Analysis and promoting a feasibility study to reduce them, particularly by optimizing the use of energy, the Tannery has become the first in the world to offset emissions through the use of certified carbon credits Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), the main international standard.
The certified credits support the Fazenda Nascente do Luar forestry project developed in the Cerrado (Portuguese for "closed", "inaccessible") biome, the richest tropical savanna in the world in terms of biodiversity, located in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil, a region where intensive livestock farming and unsustainable agriculture have caused first the deforestation, then the soil degradation of vast areas that were previously covered by dense tropical savanna. To date, the Cerrado region covers 21% of Brazil's territory. Unfortunately, only less than 3% of this area is actually protected by law; its vegetation cover is fragmented and consists of patches of degraded savanna, separated by unproductive pastures used for cattle grazing. The FNL reforestation project has led to the emergence of a new type of landscape, characterized by a mosaic composed of natural forest and planted forest, in which the reforested areas allow for the reconnection of the natural savanna, acting as true biological corridors, allowing for rapid ground cover with the formation of new organic matter that enriches the soil.
This forestry project involves a unique approach: integrating the reforestation of the area with the restoration and conservation of the native forest, while generating environmental, social and biodiversity benefits.
Environmental: the selected tree species is characterized by an extraordinary efficiency in CO2 sequestration and oxygen production;
Social: the forestry project produces multiple jobs for local communities, offering workers significant economic benefits, training and improved quality of life; Biodiversity: the restoration and protection of the native forest recreates a favorable ecosystem for local wildlife (including endangered species that find food and shelter there).
The path to achieve Carbon Neutrality is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined in the UN 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement.
Superior is working with specialized consulting agencies to revamp the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) that will be able to provide an updated idea of the impact of the activity in terms of carbon equivalent emissions. Based on the results, a " Road Map to Carbon Neutrality " project will be developed, aimed at identifying technical and process improvements to optimize our operations and consequently decrease our emissions.
