Recycling of finished leather wastes: a novel approach

Preparation of leather like material, i.e., regenerated leather (RGL) from finished leather wastes is economical and helps in reducing environmental pollution. Incorporating plant fibers (PFs) into RGL enhances its mechanical properties. Plant fibers are exploited as reinforcement materials owing to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clean technologies and environmental policy 2015-01, Vol.17 (1), p.187-197
Main Authors: Senthil, Rethinam, Hemalatha, Thiagarajan, Kumar, Baskar Santhosh, Uma, Tiruchirapalli Sivagnanam, Das, Bhabendra Nath, Sastry, Thotapalli Parvathaleswara
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodegradation
Clean technology
Composite materials
Earth and Environmental Science
Economics
Environment
Environmental Economics
Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology
Environmental policy
Flowers & plants
Fourier transforms
Gravimetric analysis
Industrial and Production Engineering
Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering
Infrared spectroscopy
Leather
Leather & leather products
Mechanical properties
Musa
Original Paper
Plant fibers
Policies
Pollution
Pollution abatement
Pollution control
Recycling
Sugarcane
Sustainable Development
Tensile strength
Textiles
Thermal properties
Value added
Vegetable fibers
Waste materials
Wastes
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Summary:Preparation of leather like material, i.e., regenerated leather (RGL) from finished leather wastes is economical and helps in reducing environmental pollution. Incorporating plant fibers (PFs) into RGL enhances its mechanical properties. Plant fibers are exploited as reinforcement materials owing to their low cost, fairly good mechanical properties, high specific strength, non-abrasive, eco-friendly and bio-degradability characteristics. Fiberized leather wastes and PFs were mixed in various proportions to prepare regenerated leather composites (RLCs). Plant fibers viz., coconut, sugarcane, banana and corn silk were used for the study. RGL and RLCs were characterized physicochemically using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermo gravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy. Results clearly portrayed that PFs significantly improved the mechanical and thermal properties of RLCs. Among the composites, RLC prepared using leather waste and coconut fiber (50:40 ratio) proved to be a better composite with potent properties. RLCs are promising for the preparation of leather goods and footwear materials in addition to its cost-effectiveness and environmental pollution abatement. Graphical Abstract
ISSN:1618-954X
1618-9558
DOI:10.1007/s10098-014-0776-x