The Khas Group is one of Pakistan’s largest tannery groups with four tanneries producing 2.5 million sq.ft (230,000 sq.m) of leather per month.
As part of a close co-operation with Novozymes, Khas Industries in Karachi became the first tannery in the world to try Greasex Ultra in February 2007. The enzyme was tested here before the worldwide launch a few months later.
Khas Industries produces garment leather for clothes and gloves, mainly from small skins in the form of dry crust leather. Soon after the trial, the tannery began to use Greasex Ultra on a regular basis to remove excessive fat and for soaking. Fat has become a growing problem for Khas as imports have grown. In contrast to the lean sheepskins and goatskins from Pakistan, the imported skins often contain 25–35% fat.
Greasex Ultra is used in the soaking process for dry salted goatskins from Africa that are difficult to wet back. An excellent wetting effect is achieved by the combination of the protease NovoCor® S and Greasex Ultra.
The new lipase is also used together with surfactants for the effective degreasing of depickled sheepskins. Before trying Greasex Ultra, surfactants were used on their own for degreasing but the results were not satisfactory. After treatment with Greasex Ultra, the content of residual fats is consistently below 5% with the fat evenly dispersed.
“A trendsetter”
Degreasing is just one example of the use of enzymes at the tannery. Khas Industries uses no less than five different enzymes.
“Khas Industries uses more or less our whole product portfolio,” comments Khalid Mehmud of Hostachem, Novozymes’ distributor in Pakistan.
“The CEO there, Mr Massood, is a trendsetter. He has a different mindset based on careful control of the enzymatic processes. There is a lot to be gained by substituting harsh chemicals with environmentally friendly enzymes. You are doing yourself a favor and you are doing the world a favor,” says Arshad Gazi, Customer Solutions Manager at Novozymes for the leather industry in Pakistan.
Umar Riaz, who runs the Novozymes office in Pakistan, adds: “The thinking at Khas is quite different from many other tanneries in Pakistan, who are conservative and believe that enzymes can damage leather. In contrast, Khas sees enzymes very positively and is very innovative.”
With two of the largest tanneries in Pakistan – both the Khas Group and Nova Leathers – now using lipases, Umar Riaz believes that many of the other 2,000 tanneries in Pakistan may soon follow their lead.