Gunnedah tannery Gunnedah Leather Processors, among Australia's last, plans expansion, recycling scheme

Gunnedah Leather Processors submitted a development application in December for a plan that would dramatically increase the capacity of its Quia Road tannery.

AI Topper general manager Darren Forster said the upgrade, which is expected to cost about $1,017,500, would help the company move onshore industrial processes that are currently done overseas.

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Mr Forrester said the expansion of the supply-constrained business is due to the growth of the beef sector.

"Leather production is simply conversion of a by-product of the beef industry, and as such volume is always a function of beef demand," he said.

"This project is to onshore activities that are currently done overseas, and is providing a long term commitment to the production of wet blue leather in the Gunnedah region."

The upgrade will help automate the process of treating raw hides through new technology, but will also add 14 jobs to the 72 already working at the factory, according to Mr Forster.

It would expand the capacity of the tannery from 400 tonnes of leather a week to about 630 tonnes a week, according to planning documents lodged with Gunnedah Shire Council. Stepped-up production would generate 6,600 kilolitres of waste a week.

The company also plans to add a new nearby property to the business, as part of a scheme to make the factory greener and more sustainable, as well as more productive.

The company plans to shift much of the waste water through a pipeline system into neighbouring Wilga Farm, which it has purchased.

Wastewater would be pumped out of the irrigation farm after being used to avoid odour issues caused by stagnant water, according to the project DA.

The work could be completed within a month or two, if approved, according to the project DA.

The project is located far away from the nearest body of water and is not on a floodplain.

Gunnedah Leather Processors is one of three Australian tanneries which develop wet-blue hides. It has operated in the town since 1975 and is one of the biggest factories of its type in the country.

Gunnedah leather is used in everything from cricket balls to shoes, and its byproduct tannins are used in shampoo and biodiesel, among other products.

The factory already uses waste water to irrigate nearby fields, but will expand the recycling process of its operations.

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