Program
Day 1 | 01. Juli 2026
| Time | Topic | Author and Company |
| Registration | 09:00 | ||
| Opening | 10:00 | ||
| Keynote | 10:10 | Global and regional nitrogen cycles and their influence on livestock farming | Prof. Dr. Thomas Scholten (Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Department of Geosciences, Tübingen, Germany) |
| Discussion | 10:55 | panel discussion | |
| Pause | 11:05 | ||
| Session 1 | 11:20 | Sustainability through a new lens: resetting how we view impacts | Deborah Taylor (Sustainable Leather Foundation, Welton, United Kingdom) |
| 11:35 | Patented Sustainable Leather Processing | Michele Zanconato (Lucter LTD, S.A.F.E., London, United Kingdom) | |
| 11:50 | Isotope analysis of cowhide leather: New approaches to origin analysis | Stefan Dittrich, Dr. Andreas Rossmann (FILK Freiberg Institute gGmbH, Freiberg, Saxony, Germany; Isolab GmbH, Schweitenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany ) | |
| Lunch | 12:00 | ||
| Awards ceremony | 13:00 | Awards ceremony | |
| Session 2 | 13:15 | Overview on EU regulatory aspects relevant for leather | Andreas Bayer (Verband TEGEWA e.V., 60329 Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany) |
| 13:30 | Hazard, Risk, and Compliance: The Changing Landscape of Leather Biocides | Andreas Weckmann (LANXESS Deutschland GmbH, Material Protection Products, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) | |
| 13:45 | Beyond the Obvious: Unmasking Contaminants in Commodity Chemicals |
(Eurofins Sustainability Services, Northampton, United Kingdom; Hồ Chí Minh, Viet Nam) | |
| 14:00 | Bisphenols in Footwear Leather. Evaluation of Alternative Retanning Systems and Decontamination Strategies for Safer and More Circular Leather Materials | Maria Isabel Maestre, L. Peinado-Medrano, Alberto Vico, Irene Lifante, Marcelo Bertazzo, Elena Orgilés (INESCOP, Elda, Spain) | |
| 14:15 | Bisphenols in Leather | Dr. Volker Rabe (TFL Group, Cologne/Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) | |
| Coffee & Cake (To Go) | 14:30 | ||
| VGCT-General meeting | 14:45 | for members only | |
| Social-Programm, Tretboot Rallye | 16:30 | registration required | |
| Social Dinner, A2 am See | 18:30 | registration required |
Day 2 | 02. Juli 2026
| Time | Topic | Author and Company | |
| Registration | 08:00 | ||
| Session 3 | 09:00 | PFAS in the leather industry – Regulatory framework, analytical challenges and technical solutions | |
| Polyfluorinated chemicals: Overview of regulatory requirements | Dr. Martin Kleban (VDL, Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany) | ||
| PFAS Analysis – An Overview in the Jungle of Methods and Terminology | Nadja Dittrich (FILK Freiberg Institute gGmbH, Freiberg, Saxony, Germany) | ||
| N.N. | N.N. | ||
| Diskussion | |||
Break | 10:00 | ||
| Session 4 | 10:15 | Bio-dry: Lyophilization-Based Stabilization of Collagen Matrices as an Innovative Intermediate for Leather Tanning | Sara Cuadros, Silvia Sorolla, Rosa Cuadros, Anna Bacardit (Universitat de Lleida, A3 Leather Innovation Center, Igualada, Spain) |
| 10:30 | High-Intensity Light Pulses as a Sustainable Method for Bovine Hide Unhairing | Anna Bacardit (Universitat de Lleida, A3 Leather Innovation Center, Igualada, Spain) | |
| 10:45 | Polymeric fatliquors for tailored performance | Olga Ballús, Ricardo Micó (CROMOGENIA UNITS, BARCELONA, Spain) | |
| 11:00 | Influence of Crosslinker Chemistry on the Performance of Automotive Leather Finishes | Dr. Francesco Serafini, Dr. Tommaso Gandini, Dr. TomasoPellegrini (Gsc Group spa, MONTEBELLO VICENTINO, Italy) | |
| 11:15 | CHALLENGES IN ASIAN LEATHER SECTOR ANDRECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LEATHER PROCESS AND WASTE TREATMENT | Dr. Sengoda Gounder Rajamani, (Asian International Union of Environment Commission, Leather and Environment, CHENNAI, India) | |
| Lunch | 11:30 | ||
| Session 4 | 12:30 | Closer to the Process: Wireless Sensors for Flexible In-Situ Monitoring in Tanning | Dr. Ulrike Straßburger (FILK Freiberg Institute gGmbH, Freiberg, Saxony, Germany) |
| 12:45 | Traceability: beyond leather measurement | Roberto Mastrotto (Wega srl, Arzignano, Italy) | |
| 13:00 | Verified hide data, end to end: closing the intelligence loop from wet-blue to finished leather | Dion Bettjeman, Laura Caccia, Christelle Blanchet (Mindhive Global, Auckland, New Zealand) | |
| 13:15 | Beyond the Grain: The Role of flesh-side Inspection in Leather Defects Detection | Corrado Capolupi; (Brevetti CEA S.p.A., CORIUM DIVISION, Sovizzo, Italy) | |
| 13:30 | Standardized grading by AI vs. customer-specific AI (dataset) as a strategic asset | Johannes Lukas Höhne, (Dr. Schenk GmbH, Structured Surfaces, Gräfelfing, Bavaria, Germany)
| |
| Closing | 13:45 | ||
Social program
For dinner on 01.07.2026 in the "A2"
Before we head out to dinner in the evening, there's 90 minutes of pedal boat fun on the program. An adventurous pedal boat rally will involve completing a buoy course where numerous questions await. Afterwards, we'll head to the neighboring A2 restaurant on Lake Aasee, known for its exclusive ambiance and excellent food. The venue is spread over two floors. If the weather stays dry, we'll enjoy views of the lake and Münster from the roof terrace. We'll meet here for dinner on the first day of the conference, July 1, 2026.
