Processing of leather waste: pilot scale studies on chrome shavings. Isolation of potentially valuable protein products and chromium

摘要

Hides come to the tanner as a by-product of the meat industry. The tanning process, in turn, generates much greater quantities of by-products and wastes than leather. One ton of wet salted hides yields only 200 kg of leather but over 600 kg of solid waste, or by- product if a market can be found. In the United States, nearly 60,000 metric tons of chromium-containing solid waste, i.e. chrome shavings, are generated by the leather industry each years, and approximately ten times this amount is generated worldwide.