Potential Utilization of Solid Wastes Generated from Tannery, Garments and Jute Industries for the Production of Composite Board

Solid wastes generated during the tanning process are an unavoidable byproduct that is typically disposed of through dumping or incineration. These processes pose serious environmental threats. Among various tannery solid wastes, leather shaving dust contributes a large portion. Its reuse is a burning issue for sustainable tannery solid waste management. There are several possible ways to reuse this waste product. For example, leather shaving dust can be converted into useful products such as leather boards, biofuel, and compost. In this research, various composite boards were made using leather shaving dust in combination with other industrial wastes, including cotton and jute waste from the garment and jute sectors. The highest 8.90 MPa tensile strength was obtained for the leather dust-cotton-jute board compared to 7.89 MPa for the control leather dust board. The addition of cotton and jute materials lowered the hardness. The highest 81.2 hardness was found for the leather dust-cotton-jute board compared to 85.0 for the control leather dust board. These boards were used as various reinforcement components in leather products. Hardness, water absorption, mechanical properties, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to characterize and evaluate the performance of the resulting composite board.