Material flows in the life cycle of leather

This paper presents a study on the resource and environmental profile of leather for communicating to the consumers about the environmental burdens of leather products. The results indicate that significant environmental impacts were caused during the tanning and finishing of leather as well as the electricity production and transportation required in the life cycle. The use of fossil fuels in the production of energy has greater impact with increased emissions leading to about 15190 kg CO2 equivalent of global warming and about 73 kg SO2 equivalent of acidification while producing 100 m(2) of leather for shoe uppers. Further resource use of 174 kg of coal, 6.5 kg of fuel oil, 17.4 m(3) of water and 348 kg of chemicals of which about 204 kg are hazardous are consumed, and wastewater of about 17 m(3), BOD of 55 kg, COD of about 146 kg, TDS of 732 kg and solid waste of about 1445 kg are generated during the life cycle for the production of 100 m(2) of leather. The total solid waste generated is 1317 kg, out of which about 80% is biodegradable contributed by slaughtering, tanning and finishing stage, 14% is non-biodegradable contributed by tanning, finishing and electricity production stages and 6% is hazardous mainly from tanning and finishing stage of leather. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.