Enzymatic hydrolysis of chromed leather wastes and application of hydrolysate /

The leather industry employs waste from the food industry to produce diverse products, such as garments, footwear, upholstery, etc. However, leather processing use a lot of chemicals and water; this causes huge amounts of solid and liquid waste and has a negative effect on the environment. Chrome shavings are pose a threat of pollution. An alkali-enzymatic hydrolysis method was utilized to obtain collagen hydrolysate as a possible constituent for leather finishing formulations. The new proteolytic enzyme preparation Vilzim PRO Conc was applied for the hydrolysis of chromed shaving and the dependence of collagen hydrolysate properties on conditions of hydrolysis was explored. The application of the collagen hydrolysate for the finishing compositions was assessed as well. It was established that addition of 5% collagen hydrolysate to the finishing compositions increases tensile strength and relative elongation of films obtained from the compositions.