Alternative carrier medium for sustainable leather manufacturing – a review and perspective

Abstract

Leather industry is forced to adopt green manufacturing options due to consumer awareness and statutory environmental stipulation norms. Conventional leather manufacture involves various physico-chemical treatment processes, leading to the generation of wastewater with high pollution load. Several alternative leather chemicals and in-process control measures have been developed to overcome the environmental issues. Till date, no such significant measures have been found out. Sustainable leather manufacture necessitates complete redefinition of the conventional leather making processes. Replacement of water with alternative sustainable carrier medium could be one of the possible redefined approaches. In this perspective, an attempt has been made to summarize the current status of different alternative carrier medium and its pros and cons with respect to leather manufacture. Solvent selection tool, usage of supercritical fluid and switchable solvents in different unit processes of leather manufacture are the green chemistry approaches to be employed in order to overcome the drawbacks associated with alternative carrier medium based leather manufacture. This review focuses on such possible green chemistry approaches, challenges and critical factors for usage of alternate sustainable carrier medium in leather industry.