Responsible leather production begins long before a hide enters the tannery. It also begins with understanding how water is managed throughout the process and the quality of the water that is ultimately returned to the environment.
At Curtidos Badia, we are part of Igualada’s industrial ecosystem, a city with a long-standing connection to the leather and tanning industry. Within this environment, water management is a shared responsibility between companies and the infrastructures that make appropriate treatment possible.
Water as part of the process
Tanning is a process in which water plays a fundamental role. Working responsibly therefore means understanding every stage, monitoring processes and knowing what happens to the water once it has served its purpose.
In Igualada, we work alongside IDR, Igualadina de Depuració i Recuperació, a pioneering facility for the biological treatment of wastewater serving the leather industry.
In 2025, IDR introduced new DAF tertiary treatment technology, an upgrade designed to improve water quality before discharge or potential industrial reuse.
This development forms part of a broader vision: continuously improving the systems that allow industrial activity and responsible resource management to move forward together.
Towards a more circular model
The next step is the construction of the Water Regeneration Station (ERA), designed to move towards a more circular water management system and prepare for future needs.
For us, initiatives like these are important because sustainability does not depend on a single action.
It depends on processes, knowledge and decisions that are repeated every day.
The quality of leather is not only the result of its final finish. Behind every article are numerous stages and choices: raw materials, transformation processes, resource consumption, the energy used and, of course, water management.
Knowledge for better decisions
Talking about sustainability also means talking about education and knowledge.
Understanding how leather is transformed, how resources are used and how wastewater is treated allows us to make more conscious decisions and continue improving the way we work.
For Curtidos Badia, sustainability is therefore not about a specific date on the calendar or simply about communicating a message.
It starts with understanding the process.
Because doing things properly in a craft like ours means paying attention to every detail and understanding the impact of every decision.
Well-made leather is never the result of a single action. It is the result of many conscious decisions, made carefully and repeated every day.
And behind each of them, there is also water.