Effective Utilization of Tannery Waste for the Fabrication of Construction Materials

The tannery is a well-established, age-old industry that has been substantially industrialized across all nations over time and contributes significantly to the global economy, but it also offers a serious threat to the environment due to its high water and more than 250 chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyl, chromium, sulfides, nitrates, and others, are utilized in the process, which results in the production of effluent with a high concentration of pollutants into the ecosystem. The ecosystem is severely impacted by a large-scale discharge of inadequately handled solid tannery waste (STW), which contaminates the soil, surface water, and groundwater resources and poses serious risks to human and animal health. Proteinaceous untanned and tanned waste make up STW, which must be properly treated for disposal in an environmentally friendly manner. Over the years, a number of strategies have been created STW should be reduced and recycled to produce renewable energy (biogas and biohydrogen), biofuels (biodiesel and briquettes), building materials, fertilizers, commercial items (adsorbents, animal feeds, proteins, fats, and enzymes), biodegradable packaging and non-packaging materials, and biodegradable packaging and non-packaging materials. In this book chapter, we will emphasize the utilization of solid tannery waste (STW) as useful construction material. A brief review of both traditional and modern methods for treating tannery industry effluent also covered the role of nanotechnology in the tannery industry. We can protect the ecology, aquatic wildlife, and human health by turning the problem created by solid tannery waste into a possibility, paving the path for a healthier and more sustainable future.