China ups synthetic leather production; environmental concerns loom

Suzhou, Jiangsu – In 2019, China produced 3.28mT, or 5.6bn m², of synthetic leather, up 8.8% from a year ago. Polyurethane leather accounted for 42% of the total, although its share has been shrinking over the past few years.
 
Production during the first eight months of 2020 amounted to 2MT, up 0.7% year on year notwithstanding the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Tian Jingyan, general secretary of the China Plastics Processing Industry Association’s synthetic leather committee.

Last year, China produced 20,000 tons of solvent free and waterborne PU resin, doubling the number from a year ago. It originally aimed for a 300% year-on-year growth in such production in 2020, but now projects 50% growth because of the pandemic.

The country now has 448 sizeable synthetic leather makers, with an aggregation of 3,125 production lines, said Tian at a China conference held in November by the China Polyurethane Industry Association.

‘A 2019 national survey names synthetic leather as China’s most polluting industry, even above iron and steel,’ said Tian.
 
The survey showed the sector emits 6.6kg VOC for every thousand metres of leather produced. Solid waste and wastewater problems, especially DMF-related, also plague the industry.
 
For example, the industry consumes 3.4mMT of solvents annually. The wet method of production can recycle 90% of the solvents, while the more popular dry method can only recycle 50%. Each year, at least 1MT solvents, worth CNY12bn ($1.8bn), are released into the environment, which is polluting as well as wasteful, said Tian.  
 
Another challenge facing the industry is high energy consumption. It currently consumes 2 tons of coal for every ton of leather, but China’s clean manufacturing standards call for a rate of 0.5 tons of coal for every ton of leather.
 
The industry has been working with the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Program and holding seminars to identify and solve problems in phasing out DMF. From 2016 to 2019 the industry has reduced its DMF consumption by 28.6%, including 3.6% from switching to waterborne PU and 25% from shutdowns.