Present and prospective leather industry waste disposal

In this paper general characteristics of the main leather industry waste regarding its amount reduction by thermal treatment have been presented. Both the tannery solid wastes and the sludge contain organic substances. Their energy value is more than 50% higher in comparison to hard coal (nominally 20 MJ/kg as dry material). Up to now, the considerable amounts of energy are not recovered; leather wastes are predominantly on landfill. Implementation of a comprehensive thermal method for tannery solid waste and sludge utilization can permit to solve the waste disposal problem by effective neutralization of all of the waste. Moreover, it should bring economic benefits associated with steam or hot water production and landfill tax avoiding. The study is oriented towards the practical application.