Michael Costello
Director of Sustainability
Stahl
Cleaning up the Ganges: A Public Private Partnership for the Kanpur leather cluster
The Ganges (or Ganga) River Basin in Northern India is one of the most polluted and overused river basins in the world. The Government of India started the “Clean Ganga” project several decades ago with the aim to rejuvenate the river basin by reducing pollution levels and improving water quality. The Kanpur Unnao leather cluster is one of the polluting industries in the Ganga River Basin, and a major challenge there has been to establish effective cooperation between the public water authorities responsible for effluent treatment and the small, medium and large-scale tanning companies who are responsible for reducing the pollution loads.
Stahl’s presentation will introduce the partnership they have established with lead project sponsor, Solidaridad Asia, as well PUM Netherlands, the Uttar Pradesh Leather Industry Association and the Ganga Pollution Control Unit to address some of the challenges related to overall water use and pollution from the Kanpur leather cluster.
About Michael Costello
Michael Costello has been Stahl’s Director of Sustainability since October 2015 and has a broad experience in the chemical industry in a variety of positions. In 1988, he joined Stahl USA as a process & lab chemist and later in commercial positions in the coatings segment. In 1996, he became industry specialist at Stahl Europe and also led the successful MRPII Class A implementation project for Stahl Ibérica.
After a break of six years as EMEA Sales Manager at GE Silicones (now Momentive), Michael re-joined Stahl in 2005. As Group Director, he established the Picassian Polymers SBU within Stahl (now Stahl Polymers). Stahl Polymers supplies raw materials to coatings formulators and has become a recognized player in the market.
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