According to the master plan for development of Vietnam Leather & Footwear Industry to in 2020, export turnover of the industry will reach $16.5 billion. To achieve that goal, the leather footwear enterprises are step by step restructuring the industry, innovating equipment and applying advanced technologies.
Typically, the Saigon Tan Tec, a multinational company that is based in Vietnam Huong 2 Industrial Park (Ben Cat District, Binh Duong), has been able to save as much as 40% of power consumption and reduce as much as 2,700 tones of CO2 emissions. This is an enterprise specializing in manufacturing and supplying various kinds of leather for high fashion world. In addition, the application of new technologies is also helping this business reduce 50% of water and 15% of chemicals consumed in the production process. Recently, at the "Energy Efficiency Award" presentation ceremony held in the Federal Republic of Germany, Saigon Tan Tec was given a second prize due to its successful and consistent application of advanced energy and environment technologies.
The same is true in Chang Shin Vietnam Ltd., an enterprise specializing in manufacturing Nike sports shoes, where energy efficiency measures also help to save approximately 3.7 million kWh. Leaders of Chang Shin Vietnam Ltd. said that in addition to particular styles of Nike in maintaining and protecting the green, Chang Shin was also concerned for protecting the environment by designing buildings in a way that is friendly to the ecological environment, installing advanced machinery, especially using alternative natural energy sources.
The method taken by Chang Shin is that it adventurously invested in modern equipment to step by step replace the obsolete and power-consuming items, while ensuring efficiency. In 2010, the company spent 840 thousand dollars on the purchase of specialized equipment that consume less power. Some improvements worth mentioning include the replacement of 250W lights with 35W ones; the replacement of the obsolete production lines that consumed 100kWh with the new one that consumes about 38-40 kWh; the installment of vapor suckers to the heating system so as to reuse and maintain stable heat, thus reducing 30% of power consumption.
Notably, in 2010 Chang Shin made 12 renovations in which corrugated iron sheets on roofs of workshops were replaced with crystal iron ones that let natural light go through, resulting in reduction of power consumption by 10%. Thanks to such sheets, now in most workshops in the company, electricity is not used for lighting and cooling. The renovation of sole-pressing steam pistons and hydraulic pumps of sole-pressing rigs alone helps Chang Shin save 1.5 million kWh of electricity each year, equivalent to approximately US $100,000...
Recently, at a workshop held in Nha Trang on the sustainable production and consumption, Mr. Bui Ngoc Khoa from Footwear Research Institute, said, “The leather & footwear industry uses lots of materials, chemicals, water and energy. Most equipment and technologies are medium or obsolete ones that release large amount of waste. The potential for energy savings in the leather & footwear industry is huge. In fact, the number of enterprises that have implemented measures of cleaner production and energy efficiency account for only about 10% of all enterprises in the industry.”
According to Mr. Khoa, leather and footwear enterprises can save energy costs in many possible ways such as as making use of solar energy; controlling the system of furnaces, boilers and piping; replacing obsolete equipment with the better one; and improving the lighting system. In fact many enterprises have earned billions from investment in solutions for clean production and energy efficiency.
Source: VNEEP
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