Chromium recovery from solid leather waste by chemical treatment and optimisation by response surface methodology

The leather industry uses conventional tanning methods which cause environmental pollution due mainly to the presence of chromium. This study suggests a treatment for solid leather waste containing chromium as an ecological alternative to the pollution generated by tanneries. The study uses an original approach to the optimisation of chromium recovery by mathematical and statistical treatment of the experimental data. Several factors that influence recovery, such as temperature, concentration, time and solid/liquid ratio through acid and basic hydrolysis were analysed with the aid of experimental design. Tanning liquor was obtained by adjusting pH, alkalinity and concentration when hydrolysis finished. An appropriate response surface model was constructed using alkaline hydrolysis experiments with sodium hydroxide, leading to conditions for maximum recovery of Cr2O3. The optimal NaOH concentration (1.58%), temperature (63.7 degrees C), time (3 h) and solid/liquid ratio (1/70 g.mL(-1)) were established. The results indicate that sodium hydroxide as an hydrolysis agent is a highly efficient means of recovering chromium from solid leather waste in order to produce tanning liquor.