Rationalization of Salt-Related Processes in the Leather Industry as a Tool for Minimization of Their Environmental Impact

Abstract

The main purpose of our contribution is reducing the existing environmental burden related to the worldwide use of sodium chloride for raw hide curing. The essential step is rationalization of the curing process itself, since it determines the amount of salt to deal with in the subsequent operations such as pre-soaking, soaking, after-soaking and desalting of animal fleshings during their complex processing into valuable products.