Leather Industry Solid Waste as Nitrogen Source for Growth of Common Bean Plants

The leather industry generates large amounts of a Cr-containing solid waste (wet blue leather). This material is classified by the Brazilian Environmental Council as a category-one waste, requiring a special disposal. The patented process Br n. PI 001538 is a technique to remove chromium from wet blue leather, with the recovery of a solid collagenic material (collagen), containing high nitrogen levels. This work aimed to evaluate the residual effect of soil application of collagen on the production of dry matter, content and accumulation of N in common bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), after the previous growth of elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.) cv. Napier, as well as to quantify the mineralization rate of N in the soil. The application of collagen, at rates equivalent to 16 and 32 t ha−1, provided greater N contents in the common bean plants, indicating residual effect of these rates of application; the same was observed for the rates of 4 and 8 t ha−1, though in smaller proportions. Higher mineralization rates of N collagen occurred next to 16 days after soil incubation. During the 216 days of incubation, the treatments with collagen showed higher amounts of mineralized nitrogen.