Life cycle assessment of cow tanned leather products

Abstract

The leather tanning industry is one of the chemical industries, which significantly impacts the environment. The raw material used for tanning is chromium (Cr), which is toxic to humans. The study aims to estimate the environmental impact of the cow tanned leather production at UD. PK X, Magetan, East Java, Indonesia. The method used is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and analyzed using the "gate to gate" perspective. The results showed that the leather tanning process at UD. PK X produces several impact categories, including climate change for the entire process chain except fleshing and trimming with a total impact value of 2.03E+02 kg CO2 eq. The impact category of human toxicity potential, freshwater ecotoxicology, and marine ecotoxicology on the tanning process (Cr VI) has an impact value of 1.54E+02 kg 1.4 dichlorobenzene eq, 1.25E+03 kg 1.4 dichlorobenzene eq, and 1.55E+05 kg 1.4 dichlorobenzene eq, respectively. The last impact is photochemical oxidation in the setting out process with an impact value of 6.07E-7 kg ethylene eq.