Zero Waste Processing and Sustainability of Leather

Leather processing over the years has evolved greatly. Performance and supply/demand based value addition have made this transformation possible. The high intense processing activities have also posed major concern for their environmental sustainability. In the growing new material world, competition from synthetics as well as various leather like materials, uniqueness of leather and its relevance for manufacturing products that imparts endurance, elegance, and adaptiveness to ever changing fashion trends have been highlighted. The various unit operations and their consequences on the triple bottom-line of sustainability have been discussed at length. This chapter also gives a detailed account of various technologies that have been/are being practised for various unit operations starting from preservation, soaking, liming, dehairing, tanning, post-tanning, etc. as well as various waste water treatment technologies. Technologies that offer scope for promoting circular economy and reducing carbon foot-print through waste minimisation and or valorisation have been detailed. Global sustainability goals and their impact on sustainable leather processing have been discussed. Options for utilisation of solid wastes for the manufacture of high value pharma and other applications have been discussed. Importance of new emerging tools such as AI, IOT, and their impact on Industry 4.0 and beyond have been highlighted. The necessity for auditing various unit operations of leather processing and their sustainability impact analysis has been stressed upon. Need for establishing cluster based innovation parks that could promote zero waste production through new generation green technologies and entrepreneurship for sustainable leather sector has been emphasised. The overall sustainability of leather sector has to be considered as a continuous progressive culture based activity rather than treating them as one-time measure.