The purpose of this work is to compare the environmental impact of two systems for processing bovine leather: (i) a new continuous system that consists in dehydration and tanning and post-tanning by immersion versus (ii) the traditional system using drums. In order to better assess the environmental impact of this new tanning system, the life cycle assessment methodology has been chosen to perform calculations on various impact categories, including the global warming potential (CO2 equivalent emissions), and the energy consumption for both the traditional and the new tanning processes. When assessing the environmental impact of the new system, it is clear that a reduction in the use of acetone during the process will positively affect the environmental outcomes. In this regard, results show reductions on the impacts in eight out of the eleven impact categories analyzed as well as reductions on energy consumption. However, the acetone loss considered (5%) led to higher impacts compared to the traditional system in three specific impact categories, which can be improved by reducing the acetone emission to 2.5%.

Peer Reviewed