Enzyme Unhairing of Skins in Recycled Liquors- A Way to Utilize the Waste Bath

摘要

In the leather industry, pollution is a serious problem. Moreover, unhairing is a heavy pollution process and the utilization of enzymes in unhairing is a promising clean technology. Although there are numerous reports on enzymatic unhairing, little is known about the reuse of enzyme bath. In this paper, the recycling of the enzymatic unhairing bath was investigated. It was found that recycled liquors have little effect on the quality of finished leather. Only 46.8% of enzyme is used in the recycling process, compared with single use process. Moreover, the load of effluent is concentrated in reduced volume, that is to say, the effluent is easy to dispose. Another advantage is that the final bath whose main components are proteins can be reused as a fertilizer.