Risk Management of Chemicals in the Leather Sector: A Case Study from Sweden

Abstract

The leather industry is a traditional industrial sector. The industry uses both a high variety and high amount of chemicals during the production of leather from raw hides and skins. The chemicals used will end up in the product, in the environment (wastewater, solid waste, air) and in by-products. This chapter describes how a modern tannery in Sweden is working with the risk management of chemicals in order to reduce the health and safety risks at the company and also to reduce the environmental impact of the company and avoiding hazardous chemicals in the product. The tannery is using 350 different chemicals in the different processes and in general the tannery adds 3 kg of chemicals for every kilogram of leather that is produced. The tannery has implemented environmental management systems and has a very good control of all processes in the tannery. The chapter focuses on how the tannery assesses new chemicals before they are introduced, how the tannery substitutes potential dangerous chemicals by less dangerous alternatives, how the tannery reduces the impact of chemicals to the environment by the use of best available techniques complemented by treatment facilities such as a newly built wastewater treatment plant and finally how the company monitors the content of certain chemicals in the finished leather.