Cleaner production and resource recovery opportunities in leather tanneries: Technological applications and perspectives

The main aim of this review was to provide insights on the possible cleaner production (CP) options for leather manufacturing industries and propose suitable resource recovery technologies. A real case study from local tanneries in Palestine has been presented. All the processes involved in the leather tannery industry have been reviewed based on raw materials, processing parameters and effluent composition. The evaluation of the identified CP options indicates that the most practical option is manipulating the processing parameters of the tanning process for increasing its efficiency. The high contents of COD in the released streams from beam house operations and of sulfides from the unhearing step also require attention. The different technological options for resource recovery, e.g. biogas, chromium, lipids and chemicals, from leather industry wastewater and solid wastes were reviewed and discussed. [Display omitted] •Feasibility of implementing cleaner production (CP) in tanneries was evaluated.•The CP option of altering chromium tanning is the most acceptable step in Palestine.•Summary of technologies for recovering resources with high COD content is provided.•Strict environmental restrictions are required to implement CP actions in Palestine.