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News & Trade Events
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| News & Trade Events | Reverse tanning process could revolutionize leather industry.
A new greener and cleaner
chemical process could revolutionize the leather-tanning industry, according to
a report in the issue of the American Chemical Societys journal
Environmental Science & Technology. Reverse leather tanning, which
essentially works backward from the point where conventional tanning ends,
saves time, money and energy while drastically slashing water use and pollution,
say researchers at the Central Leather Research Institute in Adyar, India.
From pre-tanning to finishing, conventional leather tanning requires about 15
steps, which produce enormous amounts of wastewater and pollutants, including
sulfides, chlorides, sulfates and other compounds. The new approach flips the
process around and eliminates some of the steps, which results in multiple and
substantial production efficiencies, the researchers say.
In the new process, for instance, prior to tanning, the skins are treated with
chemicals normally used after tanning is completed. According to the
researchers, the reverse process produces leather that is comparable to
conventional tanning, but requires 42 percent less time, 54 percent fewer
chemicals, 42 percent less energy, 65 percent less water and cuts emissions of
key pollutants by up to 79 percent. The results were achieved without changing
chemicals or using new ones, the researchers note.
In addition to costing less and being "greener" than
conventional tanning, the reverse process is "easy-to-adopt" and
could help the global industry overcome emerging environmental and economic
concerns, the researchers conclude.
American Chemical Society
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