feasible in the tannery industry and will greatly add value to the tannery residues
while addressing growing environmental concerns. This is an incentive to the
tannery and other agroprocessing industries to generate more revenue and also
present products of more value to the consumer.
12 Conclusions
The industry is celebrated for playing a paramount role in global economic development by providing valuable leather products, employment and foreign exchange.
However, the industry faces serious sustainability issue due to pollution and environmental and negative health effect. Tanneries need to embrace cleaner production,
prevent or reduce waste formation and the inevitable small amounts of waste
generated be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way. Enzymes have been
identified as a realistic alternate for toxic chemicals used in beam house operation.
Proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes in particular can be effectively used in soaking,
dehairing, bating and degreasing operation to and help in waste reduction and
recovery of valuable by-product, reduce cost and increase leather quality. We have
demonstrated that proteases and lipases from extremophilic microorganisms have
the capability to replace toxic sodium sulphide used in dehairing process. In addition, studies have shown that proteolytic enzyme can be used in bioremediation of
generated waste. Exploitation of enzymes in treatment of chrome-tanned leather
shavings (CTLSs) at a commercial level is not fully developed. Leather industry
should adopt use of eco-friendly enzyme to achieve long-term sustainability and
clean environment and avert health hazards. However, adoption of new technology
by stakeholders in leather industry is critical but is difficult to implement due to
resources involved. Implementation of enzyme-based technology in leather
processing is strongly dependent on the legislation (nationwide and international),
the political will and the financial resources put into research, development and
implementation of this powerful technology.
References
1. Beghetto V, Zancanaro A, Scrivanti A, Matteoli U, Pozza G (2013) The leather industry: a
chemistry insight part I: an overview of the industrial process. Sci Ca’Foscari 1:13–22
2. George N, Chauhan PS, Kumar V, Puri N, Gupta N (2014) Approach to ecofriendly leather:
characterization and application of an alkaline protease for chemical free dehairing of skins and
hides at pilot scale. J Clean Prod 79:249–257
3. Kamini NR, Hemachander C, Mala JGS, Puvanakrishnan R (1999) Microbial enzyme technology as an alternative to conventional chemicals in leather industry. Curr Sci 77:80–86
Alkaliphilic Enzymes and Their Application in Novel Leather Processing. . .
217
while addressing growing environmental concerns. This is an incentive to the
tannery and other agroprocessing industries to generate more revenue and also
present products of more value to the consumer.
12 Conclusions
The industry is celebrated for playing a paramount role in global economic development by providing valuable leather products, employment and foreign exchange.
However, the industry faces serious sustainability issue due to pollution and environmental and negative health effect. Tanneries need to embrace cleaner production,
prevent or reduce waste formation and the inevitable small amounts of waste
generated be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way. Enzymes have been
identified as a realistic alternate for toxic chemicals used in beam house operation.
Proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes in particular can be effectively used in soaking,
dehairing, bating and degreasing operation to and help in waste reduction and
recovery of valuable by-product, reduce cost and increase leather quality. We have
demonstrated that proteases and lipases from extremophilic microorganisms have
the capability to replace toxic sodium sulphide used in dehairing process. In addition, studies have shown that proteolytic enzyme can be used in bioremediation of
generated waste. Exploitation of enzymes in treatment of chrome-tanned leather
shavings (CTLSs) at a commercial level is not fully developed. Leather industry
should adopt use of eco-friendly enzyme to achieve long-term sustainability and
clean environment and avert health hazards. However, adoption of new technology
by stakeholders in leather industry is critical but is difficult to implement due to
resources involved. Implementation of enzyme-based technology in leather
processing is strongly dependent on the legislation (nationwide and international),
the political will and the financial resources put into research, development and
implementation of this powerful technology.
References
1. Beghetto V, Zancanaro A, Scrivanti A, Matteoli U, Pozza G (2013) The leather industry: a
chemistry insight part I: an overview of the industrial process. Sci Ca’Foscari 1:13–22
2. George N, Chauhan PS, Kumar V, Puri N, Gupta N (2014) Approach to ecofriendly leather:
characterization and application of an alkaline protease for chemical free dehairing of skins and
hides at pilot scale. J Clean Prod 79:249–257
3. Kamini NR, Hemachander C, Mala JGS, Puvanakrishnan R (1999) Microbial enzyme technology as an alternative to conventional chemicals in leather industry. Curr Sci 77:80–86
Alkaliphilic Enzymes and Their Application in Novel Leather Processing. . .
217