Content: Environmental pollution caused by leather making is the primary concern in the development of leather industry. The use of safe, effective and multi-functional green chemical products has the advantages of reducing leather operations, increasing chemicals utilization, decreasing the environmental burden, improving leather quality. In this study, dendritic-linear polymers of PAMAM-Si 1G and PAMAM-Si 2G were applied to fatliquoring process, which were prepared by branching polysiloxane on the dendritic polyamide-amine (PAMAM). Then the emulsion properties, fatliquoring properties and fatliquoring mechanism were studied by EDS, SEM, XRD, TG and washing experiments. The conclusion was drawn that PAMAM-Si are weak alkali products with high emulsion stability. The particle size of PAMAM-Si 1G was 35.8 nm, and that of PAMAM-Si 2G was 26.7 nm. They can improve the softness, shrinkage temperature and physical and mechanical properties of leather. The softness of leather with PAMAM-Si 1G and PAMAM-Si 2G increased by 115.6% and 104.7% respectively. The shrinkage temperature of leather with PAMAM-Si 2G increased by 2.9℃. The Breaking elongation of leather with PAMAM-Si 1G and PAMAM-Si 2G increased by 38.6% and 32.4% respectively. At the same time, PAMAM-Si not only increased the distance and disorder of fiber but combined with collagen fiber through hydrogen bond, a certain amount of physical adsorption and covalent bond. Take-Away: 1. The dendritic-linear polymers of PAMAM-Si 1G and PAMAM-Si 2G were prepared by branching polysiloxane on the dendritic polyamide-amine (PAMAM). 2. PAMAM-Si can improve the softness, shrinkage temperature and physical and mechanical properties of leather. 3. PAMAM-Si not only increased the distance and disorder of fiber but combined with collagen fiber through hydrogen bond, a certain amount of physical adsorption and covalent bond.

Content: A microfibrillated chitin/gelatin composite film was prepared by solvent casting method, and the nanosized microfibrillated chitin as a reinforce phase to improve oxygen resistance, water-resistant and mechanical performance in this system.The morphologies were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the mechanical properties were investigated by texture analyzer. Oxygen permeability property, optical property and swelling property were investigated. The results indicated thatthe elastic modulus and tensile strength of microfibrillated chitin/gelatincomposite reached to 2.2GPa and 74.5MPa respectively when the content of microfibrillated chitinis 8wt%. The swelling ratio decreased to 11.63 with the 6wt% content of microfibrillated chitin.In addition, chitin microfibrils effectively enhanced the oxygen resistance of composite film without obvious loss of transmittance.

Content: Sustainable tannery effluent treatment system in achieving required discharge standards including Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) is one of the major challenges faced by the World Leather Industry. Conventional treatment system reduces Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Suspended Solids (SS), heavy metals etc. and not the TDS and salinity. To achieve the TDS level, the tanneries in South India were forced to adopt Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system by incorporating Reverse Osmosis (RO) system and Multiple Effect Evaporator (MEE). Though recovery of water is beneficial to certain extend in adopting ZLD system, the major challenges are high energy consumption, huge operation & maintenance cost and no safe disposal method for large quantity of mixed/contaminated salt generated from MEE. In view of the challenges faced in adoption of ZLD system, sustainable major technological developments have been made to control more than 50% of TDS in the effluent by adopting cleaner tanning process, segregation of saline streams, treatment and recovery of chromium and salt for reuse by the member units. The balance composited waste stream with low TDS is further treated and taken for mixing/dilution with treated domestic sewage to achieve all discharge standards including TDS. This development is being implemented in many tannery clusters in India such as Pallavaram in South India and Jajmau, Unnao, Banthar, etc. in North India. The Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) are being upgraded with financial support from Govt. of India and respective State Governments. Take-Away: Improved Chrome Recovery System for Reuse, Recovery of Salt from Saline Stream and Reuse, Sustainable TDS Management

Content: To reduce the environmental impact of tanneries at source for all types of leather, a series of investigations started at laboratory, then large pilot scale, to rationalise liming and tanning processes. This included the elimination of washes at the end of these processes, with retention of residual processing floats at maximum concentration as a chemical resource for reuse in subsequent processing. Adopted by four tanneries manufacturing more than 70,000 hides per week to the chromium tanned state, analysis detailing the equalisation of ions and solubles within these closed-loops was possible, and the subsequent release mechanisms. Large scale wet blue units specifically built to match the technology are now in the final stages of construction. From foundation level these differ from normal design, also uses of equipment, management of discharges, and plant operation. Low-impact chemical processing is locked into the fabric of these new tanneries. The technology has also spread to large scale nappa sheepskin production. And at cottage scale, thirty small tanneries in a tanning cluster processing sheep, goat, and bovine leathers to the wet blue are already changed their processing to meet a policy of no chromium discharges from their tanning areas by June 2019. The aims of low-impact manufacture, where the use of active chemicals is complete, quality fully maintained, and waste minimised are being met. This new approach to leather making offers considerable benefits at both large and small scale for wet blue manufacture. Take-Away: Closed loop systems for liming and tanning are highly effective in leather manufacture. Hight quality leathers can result fron this technology. There are considerable savings in chemical use and minimisation of waste water treatment.

Content: Chrome tanning is the commonest tanning agent in leather manufacture, and the discard of chrome tanned leather goods inevitably leads to chrome discharge that might have potential environmental risks. In this study, the kinetic behaviors of the release of chrome and organics were investigated by ICP-OES and TOC analyzers respectively. Deionized water was used as medium, and leaching tests were proceed at solid liquid ratio 1:20 as well as rotational speed 60 r/min to simulate the release of chrome tanned leather under natural conditions. The effect of temperature on the behavior kinetics was further explored. The results showed that the release of chrome and organics could be well fitted by the second-order kinetic equation, and the rate constant for the release process indicated the release of organics was faster than chrome. Then Tenax model was used to illustrate the release kinetics experiments of chrome to obtain the three release compartments (fast, slow and very slow). The results could provide the theoretical parameters for the assessment of risks of chrome-tanned leather. Take-Away: The second-order kinetic equation could describe the release of chrome and organics from chrome tanned leather under natural environment. The activation energy of the release of chrome and organics from leather could be obtained. The fast, slow and very slow compartments of chrome release could be obtained.

In diesem Jahr 2021 wurde das Arbeitsschutzmanagementsystem »AManSys« durch die Landesdirektion Sachsen und das Sächsische Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Verkehr erfolgreich re-systemgeprüft. Ein geprüftes Managementsystem verlangt nach einer Auditierung. Diese kann sowohl als internes als auch als externes Audit erfolgen. Die Veröffentlichung beschreibt die Inhalte eines internen Audits zum »AManSys« im Zeitraum zwischen 2018 bis 2020.:1 Arbeits- und Gesundheitsschutz an öffentlichen Schulen in Sachsen 2 Methodisches Vorgehen im Rahmen des Internen Audits 3 Interne Audits 2018–2020 3.1 Übersicht 3.2 Ergebnisse 4 Ausblick und Fazit 5 Quellenverzeichnis

Content: In today’s business environment, organisations are increasingly reporting their sustainability credentials through different channels. However, in a traditional industry with a complex supply chain as leather, many companies do not publicly disclose details of their sustainability activities, while a considerable number of companies report on the environmental sustainability aspect alone. Hence, this study identifies good practices of sustainability reporting, discussing the sustainability information extracted from the reports of a selected number of companies in the leather industry. A thematic content analysis was used to extract sustainability information from either the website, annual report, sustainability report or corporate social responsibility report of six leather companies. A review of existing literature assisted in categorising different practices under the three sustainability dimensions while a highlight of patterns among practices followed. The results show that the companies are observing a good practice of either dedicating a section of their website to revealing their sustainability activities or utilising their sustainability reports. Additionally, these companies follow a good practice of reporting their activities based on the economic, social and environmental sustainability dimensions, rather than focusing on just one of the aspects. Amongst the six companies, energy efficiency and reduction in greenhouse gases emission were the most occurring environmental sustainability practices. On the other hand, health and safety occurred as the dominant social sustainability practice of the leather industry, while economic sustainability practices have not been well defined, providing an opportunity for future research. Conclusively, the study provides a useful resource for managers and companies in the leather industry to learn from brands that have been embarking on sustainability efforts and assist them in getting a grasp of the concept, in readiness for strategy formulation, implementation and reporting. This study provides knowledge of the sustainability criteria to be met by small, medium sized and large leather supply chain actors on their sustainability journey. Take-Away: 1. The companies are observing a good practice of either dedicating a section of their website to revealing their sustainability activities or utilising their sustainability reports. 2. The companies also follow a good practice of reporting their activities based on the economic, social and environmental sustainability dimensions, rather than focusing on just one of the aspects. 3. Energy efficiency and reduction in greenhouse gases emission were the most popular environmental sustainability practices, health and safety was the dominant social sustainability practice while economic sustainability practices have not been well defined.

Content: The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of acrylic resins on the properties of the hide when added in the pickling-tanning stage of a wet white process. Among retanning products, acrylic resins are very frequently used because they lend very good properties to the hide on account of their high affinity for chromium. When applied during chrome tanning, these resins provide the hides with high fullness, due to the strong interaction of the carboxylate groups with chromium. Extensive bibliography is available on the application of acrylic resins in wet blue, where it is observed that the properties they provide to the hides depend basically on the type of monomers and molecular weight. However, less information is found when these products are applied in wet white tanning. In this study, 9 resins with different molecular weights and different monomer compositions were selected. Resins were applied to pelt leathers of Spanish origin split at 3.5 mm. Hides were cut along the backbone. A standard process was applied to the left halves and the same process adding the resin was applied to the right halves. The resin was added after adjusting the salt of the bath and before adding the pickling acids. The COD was measured before and after adding formic and sulfuric acid, and the shrinkage temperature and the degree of whiteness of the tanned hide were assessed. Hides were retanned and fatliquored with a standard process, and degree of softness, thickness, color intensity and organoleptic properties (fluffiness, compactness and grain tightness) were assessed. Leather shrinkage under temperature was also assessed, and images of leather sections were obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). While acrylic resins did not increase shrinkage temperature, they did fix and/or deposit themselves in the interfibrillary spaces of the hide; indeed, highly reduced COD values after acidification in the pickling stage were observed. This study shows that homopolymeric acrylic resins provided fuller and fluffier hides, while the rest of resins practically did not improve the physical and organoleptic properties of the hides. Take-Away: Homopolymeric acrylic resins provided full er and fluffier hides, while the rest of resins practically did not improve the physical and organoleptic properties of the hides Wet white tanning improvement

Content: Nanoparticles showed a huge potential for new properties development in many economic sectors like electronics, medicine, textile, waste water treatment etc. The modification of surface functionality by using low concentrations of nanomaterials opens the possibility of lowering the ecological impact of chemical materials based on volatile organic compounds. The objectives of our research were related to the use of commercial nanoparticles based on Ag and TiO2 with average particle size of 8 nm for leather surface functionalization and the investigation of the cytotoxicological impact of nanoparticle concentrations on human skin cells. The practical implications of the approach consist of multifunctional leather surface development, leather durability and comfort increase by generating antimicrobial and self-cleaning properties. The relation between leather functionality and the cytotoxicity concentration limit of nanomaterials was the hypothesis of our research. The main procedures for leather surface covering followed the classical recipes based on surface spraying with film forming composites with nanoparticle content. The optimized technology was evaluated by leather surface analyses regarding the antimicrobial (SR EN ISO 20645) and self-cleaning properties under UV and visible light exposure as compared to leather surface covered without nanoparticles. The cytotoxicity tests were performed by incubation of keratinocytes (Human immortalized keratinocytes-HaCaT) with different concentrations of nanoparticles for 48 hours and measurement of cell viability by MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol- 2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay protocol. Other tests were devoted to leather wearing simulation in order to estimate the potential transfer of nanoparticles on human skin and the health and safety impact. These simulations were based on rubbing test (SR EN ISO 11640) followed by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) analyses and by leachability tests (SR EN ISO 4098) performed in artificial perspiration solution followed by inductively coupled plasma -mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analyses, according to SR EN ISO 17294-2 and SR EN ISO 16171. The main conclusions of our research showed that it is possible to add multifunctional value to leather surface by using Ag and TiO2 nanoparticles with low impact on safety and health. Acknowledgements: The works were funded by UEFISCDI and MCI, project number PNIII_15/2015-2018 under the frame of SIINN, the ERA-NET for a Safe Implementation of Innovative Nanoscience and Nanotechnology program and respectively, PN 19 XX 05 01 project/2019 under Nucleus program TEX-PELVISION 2022 Take-Away: - antimicrobial and self-cleanning nanoparticles for leather surface finishing - Ag and TiO2 nanoparticle cytotoxicity tests for human skin cells - multifunctional surface properties with low cytotoxicological impact

Content: A novel class of bio-based polymers have been developed within the LIFE BIOPOL European project aiming to replace traditional re-tanning and fat-liquoring products reducing environmental impacts and increasing the safety of leather. The purpose of the project is to enhance the recovery and reuse of different bio-derived by-products from leather and agro-industrial sector to produce eco-friendly and renewable bio-polymers with high re-tanning and fat-liquoring characteristics. The LIFE BIOPOL project aims to make bio-based polymers in order to reduce the following parameters in re-tanning phase: - 20-30% COD, - 50-60% of inorganic salts (Sulphates and Chlorides), - 90% of Cr (III) salts, - 20% of water used in the leather process. Other important goals of the project are: - reduction 70-90% of hazardous and environmental polluting substances normally found in conventional chemicals, - reactivity enhancement of 30-40% of the new biopolymers compared to the current leather - application technology, - reduction of 70-80% of the Product Environmental Footprint of the new biopolymers related to the state of the art. The vegetal biomasses and the tanned hides by-products were pretreated in order to obtain suitable building blocks for the production of bio-based polymers. Several protocols involving polymerization were used in order to achieve the synthesis of the biopolymers, which have been carried out at lab scale. Macromolecular characterization of the biopolymers was performed in order to rationalize the synthetic strategy and practical application of the products giving important parameters such as molecular weight and chemical composition of the new biopolymers. Performances of new bio-based polymers have been inspected and compared with traditional chemicals through application on different types of leather. The benefits of the new products within leather making process were evaluated through chemical analyses of re-tanning and fat-liquoring effluents. The upgrade of the developed chemistry will be performed within a new devised prototype plant specifically designed and built-up for producing the bio-based polymers at industrial scale Take-Away: Production of leather making biopolymers from biomasses and industrial by-products through Life Cycle Designed Processes