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Tannery process and its environmental impacts a case study: Vellore District,
Tamil Nadu, India

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 ISSN: 0974-2115
www.jchps.com Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Tannery process and its environmental impacts a case study:Vellore
District, Tamil Nadu, India
P.R.Kavitha and G.P.Ganapathy
Centre for Disaster Mitigation and Management, VIT University, Vellore- 632014, India.
*Corresponding author: E-Mail: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Leather and its products are the sources of employment, export and foreign exchange earnings for many
developing countries. Leather industries are often blamed for the environmental damage it creates. In the absence
of tanneries, the slaughter houses would have faced serious disposal problems of skin and hides and resulted in
environmental disaster. Cleaner technologies are applied to reduce the environmental impact of leather production.
With the cleaner technologies followed in many tanneries, they are successfully operated in the centers of the cities.
The main objective of the present study is to understand the leather process and its various environmental impacts
related to it. The water consumption for the production of leather from one tone of raw hides is around 15000 to
40000 litres and 110 to 260 litres per sheep skin. Quality chemicals and optimum dosing in every process can lead
to lower pollution level and thus reduce the environmental impact. Environment friendly advanced technologies
are followed in the tanneries on the basis of recycling and recovering techniques that lead to the improvement of
leather quality. The wastewater from the tanneries been treated in the effluent treatment plants using Reverse
Osmosis (RO) technology and converted into reusable water for the tannery processes and the reject from the RO
treatment being evaporated either by solar system or by mechanical evaporation and converted into salt. Thus the
environmental impact of tannery industry in Tamil Nadu, India has drastically reduced by achieving Zero Liquid
Discharge system.
KEY WORDS: environment, tannery, impact.
1. INTRODUCTION
Tanneries convert animals hide and skin into leather through various processes. The raw material for the
leather industry is the waste product from the slaughter house. It is the bi-product of meat industry. The waste
product, the skin of animals is being converted into useful end product. Thus the leather industries relieve the
disposal problem of uneatable hide and skins. Cleaner technology adoption in the tannery process reduces the
pollution load to an extent (Ludvik, 1998). Moreover, with ever increasing demand for fresh water and the water
resources becoming scarce, the reduction of soil fertility due to the contamination by the saline wastewater from
the industries are major issue in Indian states such as Tamil Nadu (Buljan, 2005). The importance of environmental
standards in India’s export was first experienced when Germany, one of the major importers of leather and leather
goods from India, banned the import of leather products containing more than 5 mg/kg of pentachlophenol (PCP)
in 1990 (Chandan Roy, 2012 ). This was followed by a German ban on the import of leather and textiles treated
with a number of azo dyes in 1994 (Catherine Money, 2005). Environmental aspects been taken into consideration
from 1990’s. Effluent Treatment plants were set up in early 1990’s and the effluent treated by conventional method
(Sahasranaman and Sampath Kumar, 2001). In India the major clusters of tanning industries are Ambur,
Vaniyambadi, Pallavaram, Pernambut, Ranipet, Dindigul and Trichy in Tamil Nadu and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh,
Kolkata in West Bengal and Jalender in Punjab (Sahasranaman, 2002). Around 45% of the total tanneries in India
are located at Tamil Nadu. In Tamil Nadu the major tannery clusters are located at Vellore District (Kavitha and
Ganapathy, 2015). The tanning industries were operated without and partial pollution control for more than 10
decades. Only after 1980 the treatment of the tannery wastewater was carried out (Buljan and Kral, 2011). The
waste water discharged from the industries were partially treated by conventional method and let out to Palar River
which results in ground water pollution (TNPCB, 2010). There is no flow in the Palar River due to the failure of
monsoon for the past fifteen years and the construction of reservoirs in the upstream of the river. The ground water
table decreased due to the continuous withdrawal of water for the agricultural, industrial and domestic uses (CPCB,
2000). Further the continuous discharge of effluent leads to the increase of dissolved solids in the ground water and
drastic increase of dissolved solids emerged the need of advanced wastewater treatment.
2. STUDY AREA
About 630 tanneries are located at various clusters at Vaniyambadi, Ambur, Ranipet, Pernambut in the area
of about 1650 sq.km. Vellore is located at the bank of Palar river with population of 5,01,966 (2011). Around 40%
of the leather export of our country is from Vellore District. Vellore district has an area of 6077 sq.km and is one
of the 31 districts in the Tamil Nadu state of India. Vellore city is the headquarters of this district. It lies between
12º15’ to 13º15’ North latitudes and 78º 20’ to 79º 50’ East longitudes in South Indian state, Tamil Nadu. Palar
River is one of the major water sources running west to East located at downstream of the industrial complex.

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Vellore district has the major tannery clusters in Tamil Nadu. Out of 14 Common Effluent Treatment Plants
(CETPs) in Tamil Nadu for tannery effluent, 10 CETPs are located at Vellore district.
2.1. Approach: There are three major type of leather process carried out namely Raw to finish, Raw to semi
finish and semifinish to finish with two type of tanning called vegetable tanning and chrome tanning. The major
raw materials for these tanneries are hides of cow and buffalo and skins of sheep and goat. The different stages
of leather processing and waste generation are depicted as flow diagram in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Stages of leather processing and waste generation

2.2. Leather process: Preservation of hides and skins is the first process in the leather making. Drying of skins
and hides, cooling and chilling are carried out to preserve the hides and skins. The hides and skins should be
preserved from the microbial attack and putrefaction. The microorganisms secrete proteolytic enzymes and
hydrolyze the hides/skins and make them unsuitable for leather manufacture. The procedure to prevent bacterial
attack on hide/skin is called as Curing. There are basically three major steps- Pretanning, Tanning and Post Tanning
involved in leather making, with many processes in each step (David Pearce and Hayden Fisher, 2009).
2.3. Pretanning processes: Soaking, liming, de liming & Bating, Pickling and degreasing are some processes in
the first stage (Krishnamurthy, 1977). In the soaking process, the cured skin /hide are soaked in water to rehydrate
to their original flayed condition and to remove the dirt, flesh, hair and some soluble proteins like albumin and
globulin (Aravindan, 2007). Paddles or pits are used for soaking and by every stage 200 – 400% of water by weight
of the skin or hide is soaked. 0.1% biocides (preservative) and 0.2% detergent (wetting agent) are added at the first
step and a considerable volume of salt and impurities carried out through soak liquor (Sharphouse, 1989). In the
liming process, to loosen the hair, the soaked hides and skins are treated with a mixture of lime and sodium sulphide
in pits or paddles and it is called unhairing (Rajamani, 1998). Next reliming carried out where the unhaired hides
and skins are again treated with soda ash or sodium hydroxide for the opening of fibre structure and flesh loosening.
The unhaired and fleshed hides are called pelts. Deliming is carried out to remove the alkalinity caused by lime on
the collagen (Jakov Buljan, 2001). Pelts are treated with mild acids like acetic acid, boric acid, lactic acid or acid
salts like ammonium sulphate , ammonium chloride or sodium bisulphite to remove excess alkali. Then it is bated
using bating agents to remove interfibrillary proteins and to get a clean white pelt. Skins used for gloving and
glazed kid leather needs bating. The pickling process makes the leather soft, supple and strong and these qualities
are needed for the leather used for the manufacture of shoe uppers, garments and gloves. Pickling carried out for
the delimed and bated pelts in the drums with a mixture of sulphuric acid,formic acid and sodium chloride added
together to the float, to prepare the pelts for a long storage or for mineral tannage (Michel Aloy, 1993). Fatty skins
such as sheep skins are degreased with paraffin solvents and detergent. Then it is washed and repickled.

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2.4. Tanning Process: Tanning process converts the putrescible hide or skin to non-putrescible and durable
product. Tanning is the reaction between the collagen and chemical. It gives resistance to bacteria, enzymes and
hydrolysis. It imparts hydrothermal stability. The three major types of tanning are Vegetable tanning, Chrome
tanning and combined tanning. The two kinds of tanning agents are organic tanning agents and mineral tanning
agents. The salts of chromium, aluminium and zirconium are the mineral tanning agents. Tanning agents like
formaldehyde, fish oil, calgon and silica are used in the production of certain types of leathers. Excess water and
wrinkles are removed by a process called Sammying. Then it is split into uniform thickness followed by dyeing in
drums. Depending upon the leather quality requirement, the quantity and quality of the dye differs. Depending
upon the acidity, dye bath temperature, tannage type, drum speed, float, dye concentration and special additives,
the penetration, shade richness and dry cleaning varies in the dyeing. Leather drying prevented by proper
lubrication. Oils and fats are treated with the leathers for the softness, lubrication, waterproof, and strength. These
oils and fats are blended with the leather in the drum. Oil is swabbed on the grain surface of the vegetable tanned
light leathers. A mixture of mineral oil, vegetable oil, sulphated oil, glucose and Epsom salt are applied for the sole
leathers. The light colored, supple leather are produced by using the oil which keeps the tanning material loose
from raising the grain during drying. A mixture of cod oil, tallow, wool grease, paraffin wax is treated with belting
leathers (John Sundar, 2005). Fat liquoring of light leathers are carried out in an oil-water emulsion. Along with a
solvent, the oil is introduced into the leather and the solvent is been evaporated. Leather contains 45 – 60% water
after dyeing and fat liquoring and dried to 14% moisture. During drying process, the loose tannins, dyes and oils
penetrate uniformly and deeply into the leather and fixed firmly. Uneven drying leads to migration of unfixed
tannin dye and oil to the surface and dark stains in loose areas occurs. Leather tends to shrink during the drying
process and the drying temperatures are high. The shrinkage will be low in vegetable tanned leather.
2.5. Post Tanning Processes: The uniform thickness, softness, gloss etc are obtained during the post tanning
operation. The dried leather is trimmed, conditioned with saw dust to get uniform moisture content and staked over
a steel blade to stretch and soften it. The finished leather after this process is called crust. To improve the surface
properties of the leather and to increase the aesthetic properties, the finishing is carried out (Kanagaraj and Chandra
Babu, 2002). In suede leather, buffing is carried out to remove nap fibers.
2.6. Finishing: The finishing stage of the leather is the coating on the grain surface. Two types of finishing carried
out. Glazed type and Resin finished leather. Pigment paste colors or simple dye colors are used for the leather
coloring. Varieties of pigments, resins, binders and waxes are used for finishing. Binders like casein and shellac,
synthetic resins are used for mat finish. The surface defects are covered by pigment finishes. Organic pigment in
emulsion is applied in aniline finish with very little loading and leathers are finished with natural look (Covington,
1997). The steps involved in finishing are clearing coat, sealing coat, impregnation, base coat, season coat, effect
coat. Depending upon the customer’s need and the condition of the crust leathers, the required steps are followed
in finishing. Using auto spraying machine with conveyor drying system or roller coating machine with conveyor
drying system or by curtain coating machine, the finishes are applied. The final finished leather obtained after
ironing, plating and embossing.
3. RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS
3.1. Environmental impact of leather processes: The leather industries are the major industries on the basis of
international trade and it has economic significance. The criticism continues on these industries on the basis of
environmental impact and this industry is being described as the major source of water pollution. The tannery
effluent consists of pollutants like protein, hair, salt, lime, sludge and sulphides. The groundwater near the tanneries
is highly polluted over a period. Farmers complain the infertility in their land due to the dumping of tannery waste
and tannery effluent (Jan Tiest Pelckmans and Campbell, 2010). The high environmental impact of leather
processes is mainly due to the high use of chemicals in the process (Ramasami, 2007) and letting it out in the
effluent causing soil and water pollution, air pollution during dehairing, letting out hydrogen sulfide and during de
liming, ammonia let outs and solvent vapors and slow biodegradability (Ganesh Babu, 2007). Cleaner tanning
technologies reduce the pollution load by the usage of quality chemicals with optimum dosing and water
conservation during the processes (Balachandran, 2006). The tanning industries are now come up with advanced
technologies to treat the wastewater and taking back the treated water for the reuse in their processes and salt
recovery from the concentrated waste (Preethi, 2006) and thus reduce the impact on the environment
(Govindasamy, 2006).
3.2. Analysis: The water consumption for the production of leather from one tone of raw hides is around 15000 to
40000 litres and 110 to 260 liters per sheepskin (Ashact, 2000). This will produce around 20 - 80 % of effluent
with 100 – 400 ppm chromium, 200- 800ppm sulfide, fat, solid wastes and pathogen contamination (Bosinic,
2000). Pesticides added for the hide conservation during transport is also cause pollution. Figure 2 shows the
volume of water used in the various leather processes and volume of wastewater discharged after the process of
hides and skins. The volume of water consumption and the wastewater discharged is expressed in liter per kilogram.
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Figure 2. Water consumption and wastewater production in various types of leather processes
3.3. Solid waste from tanneries: The tannery processes contribute pollution load in the form of solid waste from
various processes (Daniels, 2005). Raw trimmings of 80-120 kg/T, 40 -50 kg/T of hair/wool, 250 – 300 kg/T of
fleshing, 100 – 110 kg/T of wet blue trimmings, 90 – 120 kg/T of wet blue shavings, -6-8 kg/T of crust trimming,
1-2kg/T of buffing dust produced from the raw material (Valentine Post, 2003). The characteristics of the tannery
effluent in various process been tabulated in the Table 1.
3.4. Improvements in the last three decades in the production and export: The improvement of leather industry
in India for the past 5 decades is significant. The data on improvement of the industry in the past three decades is
shown in the Table 2.
Table.1.Characteristics of tannery
Parameter Soaking Liming/ Deliming Pickling Chrome Neutralisation Rechroming Total
reliming tanning dyeing, (including
Fat liquor washings)
Volume of 6-9 m3 3-5 m3 1.5-1 m3 0.5-1 m3 1-2 m3 2-3 m3 3-6 m3 30-40 m3
effluent/tone
of
hide/skins
PH 7.5 – 10.0- 7.0-9.0 2.0-3.0 2.5-4.0 4.0-6.5 3.5-4.5 7.0-9.0
8.0 12.8
BOD 5 day 1,100- 5,000- 1,000- 400-700 350-800 800-1100 1000-2000 1200-3000
at 20oC 2,500 10,000 3,000
(Total)
COD 3,000- 10,000- 2,500- 1000- 1000- 2000-4500 2500-7000 2500-8000
(Total) 6,000 25,000 7,000 3000 2500
Sulphides - 200-500 30-60 - - - - 30-150
(as S)
Total Solids 35,000- 24,000- 5,000- 35,000- 30,000- 10,000-14,000 4000-9000 12,000-
(TS) 55,000 48,000 12,000 70,000 60,000 23,00
Total 32,000- 18,000- 3000- 34,000- 29,000- 9000-12,500 3600-8000 9000-
Dissolved 48,000 30,000 8000 67,000 57,500 18,000
Solids
(TDS)
Suspended 3,000- 6000- 2000- 1,000- 1,000- 1000-1500 400-900 2000-5000
Solids (SS) 7,000 18,000 4000 3,000 2,500
Chlorides 15,000- 4,000- 1,000- 20,000- 15,000- 1500-2500 300-1000 6000-9500
(as Cl) 30,000 8,000 2,000 30,000 25,000
Sulphate as 800- 600- 2000- 12,000- 12,500- 1000-2000 1200-2500 1600-2500
SO4 1500 1200 4000 18,000 19,000
Chromium - - - - 1500- 15-30 50-300 120-200
(as Total 4000
Cr)

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Table.2.Leather industry improvement in India (Value in million rupees)
Item 1972 1991 1998 2001 2011
Value of production 3,000 59,570 110,560 160,000 2,80,000
Export 1,830 32,170 69,560 92,120 2,33,323
Domestic consumption 1,170 27,400 41,000 67,880 92,320
Note: 1. Export figures based on actual, (Source: Council for Leather Exports)
2. Domestic consumption figures, estimated
4. CONCLUSION
The leather industries had become an important source of employment and foreign exchange for the
country. The organic and chemical pollutants from the conventional leather process are high and discharged through
the effluent which causes serious threat to the soil and water bodies. Environmental concerns are increased by the
preference given for the leather produced by cleaner technologies. Environmental pollution awareness started in
1990’s and gradually the pollution level getting decreased by the technological application of treating the effluent.
When the treatment and disposal became an issue, the effluent treatment plants were setup. In the past 3 decades,
many pollution control efforts were taken by the industry. With the advance treatment technologies like Reverse
osmosis, the wastewater from the tanneries been treated to such a level that they can reuse it for their process. The
brine from the RO treatment been evaporated either by solar evaporation in the small scale units or by using multiple
effective evaporators and recovering salt from that. Thus the cleaner technology in the leather process and the
advanced wastewater technologies applied in the tannery effluent treatment plants plays a great role in solving the
environmental issues.
5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors express their gratitude for the technical support extended by the Technical Experts, Chennai
Environment Management Company for Tanners, Chennai and the tannery authorities in carrying out the research
work in the tanneries at Ambur and Ranipet. The authors are thankful to the Honorable Chancellor, VIT University,
Vellore, India for the continuous support and encouragements.
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