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Technical & Progress Meeting

INESCOP PROJECT PROGRESS

AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES

Pisa (Italy)ICCOM-CNR 22nd June 2012

Mercedes RoigJoaquín FerrerINESCOP

LIFE 10 ENV/IT/364

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First steps taken by INESCOP

ACTION DATE

A2. Study of environmental impact of fatliquoring agents

Jan-May’12

A14. Dissemination material preparation Mar-May’12

A19. International fairs and other events Feb-May’12

A20. Contribution to project website April-May’12

A23. Project management Continuous

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Environmental impact of fatliquoring agents

Objective: To assess the environmental impact of fatliquoring agentsTasks:

– Selection of leather fatliquoring product families– Definition of parameters to be analysed– Preparation of leathers– Laboratory and semi-industrial scale tests– Analysis of fatliquoring products– Characterization of fatliquoring residual baths

Responsible: INESCOP

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1. Selecting the fatliquoring products most commonly used in EU tanneries

Fatliquoring agents

Ref Fatliquoring families Ref Fatliquoring families1 Sulphated olein 6 Sulphated ester 2 Sulphonated olein 7 Phosphoric ester 3 Sulphited olein 8 Sulphochlorinated paraffin 4 Sulphited fish oil 9 Synthetic oil 5 Oxidised lecithin 10 Fatliquoring polymer

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2. Selection of the parameters to be assessedParameters to be assessed

Fat in leatherChromium VIPhysical tests

Fatliquoring products

ArsenicCadmiumLead

Fatliquored leather

Residual baths

pHConductivityCOD - BOD

BiodegradabilityChromium IIIOils & Fats

next

semester

• Test reference• Type of fatliquoring

product and characteristics

• Type of skin and treatment

• Fatliquoring products analysis

• Leather analysis: – physical tests, – chemical tests – organoleptic properties

• Wastewater analysis

Control sheets for tests & results

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3. Leather fatliquoring tests

4. Analysis for the assessment of environmental impact

Semi-industrial Pre-industrialLaboratory

Fatliquoring products - Residual baths - Fatliquored leathers

Impact assessment tests and analyses

next

semester

next

semester

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Characterization of fatliquoring products

Arsenic < 40 ppmArsenic < 40 ppm

Cadmium < 2 ppmCadmium < 2 ppm

Lead < 8 ppmLead < 8 ppm

All fatliquoring products are Arsenic, Cadmium and Lead-free

Wastewater characterization_pH

• The fixation of the fatliquoring agent is made by acidifying at pH <4• In the tests carried out, the pH values were adequate

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1. Sulphated olein 2. Sulphonated olein 3. Sulphited olein 4. Sulphited fish oil 5. Oxidised lecithin 6. Sulphated ester 7. Phosphoric ester 8. Sulphochlorinated

paraffin 9. Synthetic oil 10.Fatliquoring

polymer Laboratory test

Semi-industrial test

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1. Sulphated olein 2. Sulphonated olein 3. Sulphited olein 4. Sulphited fish oil 5. Oxidised lecithin 6. Sulphated ester 7. Phosphoric ester 8. Sulphochlorinated

paraffin 9. Synthetic oil 10.Fatliquoring

polymer Laboratory test

Semi-industrial test

Wastewater characterization_conductivity

• The environmental impact of fatliquoring agents on conductivity is not very significant compared to other products and stages

• Provisionally, sulphochlorinated paraffins are the fats with the greatest impact on this parameter

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Wastewater characterization_COD

1. Sulphated olein 2. Sulphonated olein 3. Sulphited olein 4. Sulphited fish oil 5. Oxidised lecithin 6. Sulphated ester 7. Phosphoric ester 8. Sulphochlorinated

paraffin 9. Synthetic oil 10.Fatliquoring

polymer Laboratory test

Semi-industrial test

• The environmental impact of fatliquoring agents on the COD is quite significant

• Provisionally, sulphated oleins are the fats with the greatest impact on the COD

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Wastewater characterization_BOD

• The environmental impact of the fatliquoring agents on the BOD is quite significant

• So far, sulphited olein, sulphited fish oil and oxidised lecithin are the fats with the greatest impact on the BOD

1. Sulphated olein 2. Sulphonated olein 3. Sulphited olein 4. Sulphited fish oil 5. Oxidised lecithin 6. Sulphated ester 7. Phosphoric ester 8. Sulphochlorinated

paraffin 9. Synthetic oil 10.Fatliquoring

polymer Laboratory test

Semi-industrial test

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Wastewater characterization_biodegradability

1. Sulphated olein 2. Sulphonated olein 3. Sulphited olein 4. Sulphited fish oil 5. Oxidised lecithin 6. Sulphated ester 7. Phosphoric ester 8. Sulphochlorinated

paraffin 9. Synthetic oil 10.Fatliquoring

polymer Laboratory test

Semi-industrial test

• The biodegradability is determined as BOD/COD • The biodegradability of the fatliquoring agents tested is

quite reduced (< 0.3), which shows that they are not biodegradable

Non biodegradab

le

Poorly biodegradab

le

Highly biodegradab

leBiodegradabl

e

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Wastewater characterization_Cr(III)

1. Sulphated olein 2. Sulphonated olein 3. Sulphited olein 4. Sulphited fish oil 5. Oxidised lecithin 6. Sulphated ester 7. Phosphoric ester 8. Sulphochlorinated

paraffin 9. Synthetic oil 10.Fatliquoring

polymer Laboratory test

Semi-industrial test

• For the moment, sulphated olein is the product that releases the least amount of Cr(III) from the leather

• In contrast, sulphited fish oil and oxidised lecithin release a greater amount of Cr (III)

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Wastewater characterisation_Oils&Fats

The results obtained are very different because of the different solubility of the fatliquoring products in the solvent used in the extraction (80:20 Hexane/tert-Butyl Methyl Ether)

1. Sulphated olein 2. Sulphonated olein 3. Sulphited olein 4. Sulphited fish oil 5. Oxidised lecithin 6. Sulphated ester 7. Phosphoric ester 8. Sulphochlorinated

paraffin 9. Synthetic oil 10.Fatliquoring

polymer Laboratory test

Semi-industrial test

Wastewater characterization: provisional results

• There are significant differences in the laboratory and

semi-industrial scale tests results

• Laboratory scale tests:

– Wastewater more concentrated, due to a lesser fixation of

products because of the lower mechanical effect

• Pre-industrial scale tests:

– So far, none of the families assessed stand out for their

lower environmental impact on all the parameters

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Characterisation of the leathers

Organoleptic properties:

Feel: good degree of softeningFeel: good degree of softening

Colour: different shades but acceptableColour: different shades but acceptable

Firmness: adequate firmness of the leatherFirmness: adequate firmness of the leather

There are no significant differences in the appearance of the leathers depending on

the type of fatliquoring agent used

Dissemination material preparation

Dissemination material preparation

Preparation of press releases and a piece of news onINESCOP’s Environment Newsletter

Jan’ 12 & Feb’12

Dissemination

Poster LIFE ECOFATTINGINESCOP

Elda (Alicante)

21st Edition ECOFIRA 2012Valencia (Spain)

29th February – 2nd March 2012

Conference in Green Week Satellite eventsFCVRE - Brussels (Belgium)

22nd May 2012

Dissemination

12th Edition Green WeekBrussels (Belgium)22nd – 25th May 2012

A20. Contribution to project website

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INESCOP´s next steps

ACTION DATE Action 2. Study on the fatliquoring agents environmental impact:

– Test on leather fatliquoring– Test at pre-industrial level

June-Dec’12

Action 4. Environmental demonstration of natural products at lab level

June 12-Mar’13

Action 5. Fatliquoring at a semi-industrial level with natural products.

Sep’12-Jun’ 13

Action 6. Environmental demonstration at pre-industrial level Jan-Dec’13

Dissemination (fairs, press releases, etc.) ContinuousContribution to project website Continuous

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Thanks for your attention