Impact of Leather Tanning
Attributes
Medium: Animals, Plants and/or Others
Country: Vietnam
Analytical Framework(s): Least Cost Concept
Study Date: 2010
Publication Date: 2011
Major Result(s)
| Resource/Environmental Good | VND (2010) |
VND (2014)1 |
USD (2014)2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full cost of compliance with EIA report submission3 | 200,000,000.00 | 263,572,000.00 | 12,337.90 |
| Full cost of compliance with EM report submission4 | 12,500,000.00 | 16,473,250.00 | 771.12 |
| Full cost of compliance with installing a modern wastewater treatment system (investment cost) | 3,250,000.00 | 4,283,045.00 | 200.49 |
| Full cost of compliance with installing a modern wastewater treatment system (operational cost) | 25,000,000.00 | 32,946,500.00 | 1,542.24 |
| Full cost of compliance with installing a simple sediment tank (investment cost) | 25,000,000.00 | 32,946,500.00 | 1,542.24 |
| Full cost of compliance with installing a simple sediment tank (operational cost) | 2,000,000.00 | 2,635,720.00 | 123.38 |
About the Inflation Adjustment: Prices in Vietnam (VND) changed by 31.79% from 2010 to 2014 (aggregated from annual CPI data), so the study values were multiplied by 1.32 to express them in 2014 prices. The study values could be expressed in any desired year (for example, to 2025) by following the same inflation calculation and being sensitive to directional (forward/backward) aggregations using your own CPI/inflation data.
Study Note: This study assessed the present environmental impacts of the tanning industry in Vietnam and the effectiveness of the current environmental regulations governing it. It focused on the environmental compliance of the tanneries since this was a crucial factor in the sustainable development of the leather and footwear sector. A field survey of 54 tanneries in Vietnam was conducted to identify the factors affecting their behavior in terms of environmental protection. Relevant statistical data, policy documents, literature reviews, and interview results are cited in this report.
Study Details
Summary: Vietnam's rapidly increasing leather and footwear export trade has made a significant contribution to the country's economic development over recent years. Currently, leather and footwear products are one of Vietnam's four major export items in terms of value. Success, however, has brought with it new challenges. Leather is the most important material for the production of footwear. Experts note that in recent years, the rapid growth of the leather industry causes considerable pollution, which poses increased risks to the environment and human health. A number of policies have been introduced by the government of Vietnam to mitigate the environmental pollution from the tanning industry. They include requirements for tanneries to (i) submit environmental impact assessment reports, (ii) install wastewater treatment systems, and (iii) pay wastewater fees. The primary objective of this research was to investigate the compliance of Vietnam's tanneries with environmental regulations. A survey of tanning firms in the provinces of Hanoi, Hochiminh City and Quangnam was conducted in 2010 to understand how tanneries perceived the impacts of environmental regulations and other factors on their environmental performance. The results showed that medium-sized and large tanneries responded positively to environmental regulations while none of the small household tanneries surveyed were found to comply. The main reasons for the latter's non-compliance were found to be the lack of technical and financial capacity and low level of awareness. Nonetheless, the compliance rate of tanneries in general was found to be much higher than that of other industrial sectors in Vietnam. Inspections, production capacity, location of firms, and type of tannery were found to be significant factors affecting compliance. This study also measured the costs of compliance and noncompliance by tanning firms. This report also cites policy recommendations such as raising the penalties for non-compliance, increasing monitoring activities to detect offenders, and employing a multi-stakeholder and collective action approach to bring about the greening of the tanning industry.
Site Characteristics: The research targeted all tanneries in Vietnam. According to the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (LEFASO), there are small scattered tanneries in the northern and central parts of the country including the Hanoi and Quangnam regions while the remaining enterprises are gathered in a major cluster in the Hochiminh City (HCMC) region in southern Vietnam. There are about 60 companies and tanning units throughout the country. There are six tanneries with foreign capital while the rest are local private companies and small tanning units.
Comments: To achieve the objectives, the study utilized both quantitative and qualitative analytical tools. Descriptive and comparative analyses were used in interpreting the data collected. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the status/characteristics of the tanning firms and their environmental performance. The characteristics of the surveyed tanneriesincluded capacity, firm size, ownership, labor force, location, etc. This method also provided simple summaries about the responses of different groups to the given questions. Comparative analysis was used to show the difference between the tanning groups in terms of productive resources, performance, environmental situation, attitude towardsenvironmental compliance and the regulations, etc. The comparative analyses showedhow the different stakeholders perceived their roles/responsibilities in greening the tanning industry and how these perceptions affected or influenced their actions.