The XXXVI biennial Congress of the International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Society (IULTCS), hosted by Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI), in conjunction with the Ministry of Industry of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was held between the 3rd -5th of November at the Skylight Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Congress was officially opened by his Excellency Mr. Tarekegn Bululta, State Minister, Ministry of Industry of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and welcome messages were also given by Mr. Ghebregziabher Ghebremedhin, Acting Executive Director of ALLPI and Dr. Luis Zugno, IULTCS President.
The Congress, under the theme of “Greening the Leather Value Chain”, was organized for the first time as a HYBRID mode and brought together more than 240 representatives and a total of 114 scientific papers during the three days. The papers thematic areas included scientific research of leather, intelligent manufacturing of leather products, cleaner technologies for the leather processing, leather chemicals, composite materials and utilization of leather waste resources, environmental management technologies in leather industry, leather industry entrepreneurship and progress towards sustainability, fashion, life style leather products and design innovation.
The prestigious keynote lecture of the Congress, the Heidemann Lecture, was delivered by Professor Anthony Covington, who has authored over 300 technical publications, and received the IULTCS Merit Award for Excellence in the Leather Industry in 2009, and the Alsop Award for Outstanding Scientific Contribution to the Leather Industry from the American Leather Chemists Association in 2011.
IULTCS 2021 Merit Award for Excellence in the Leather Industry was presented to Dr T Ramasami, renowned for his very significant contributions to the chemistry of chromium as a scientist and his leadership in the Indian leather sector for many years.