Abstract

Leather solid waste, is one of the biggest polluters in the leather industry and it seriously restricts the sustainable development of the industry. In this study, we developed a new technology of preparing a leather retanning agent using collagen protein extracted from solid leather waste and recycled it into the leather production process. This collagen based retanning agent, bearing a selective filling property, is a potential solution to reduce differentiation between different locations of the leather. The leather, after retanning treatment, is full and has very good mechanical performances, such as tensile strength and tear strength. Thus, the new research has opened up new windows for the treatment of solid leather waste presenting recycling utilisation in the leather industry.