Studies on Paper and Pulp Industry Waste for Leather Making: An Insight in Converting Waste to Wealth

The present work describes the preparation of leather dye using paper and pulp industry wastes. In this work, black liquor was modified to pH 7 by using sulfuric acid and was used as a retanning agent for leather processing. The characteristic features of modified products were thoroughly investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Zetasizer, and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The purity of the modified black liquor is ascertained through UV-visible spectroscopy. The modified black liquor treated leather shows good softness, filling, and high strength, with uniform dyeing. This process divulges to increase the accessibility to value-added products using black liquor as a starting material. This study paves a way in providing some basic understanding on the degradation of paper and pulp industry waste and its chemical constituents like phenolic hydroxyl groups involved in leather dyeing cum retanning effect. Additionally, this research works emphasis on the reduction of conventional synthetic chemicals used in leather manufacture by utilizing the waste product leads to reduce the environmental pollution loads.