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desertification, global warming, and the deterioration of the ozone layer are gradually
increasing. All of which negatively affect the health of human beings and present a
threat for all life on earth. Parallely, awareness of these environmental problems is also
respond to the new national and international demands for a cleaner production. The
Leather Industry has been identified as one of the most contaminant businesses in the
country. Therefore the implementation of new technologies that are more efficient and
Association of Guatemala (ACG) it has identified that the best available technology in
between Guatemala and other countries like Ecuador, which can reduce the
environmental impact of the solid and liquid waste which are generated in such industry
. This also means that in every leather factory a new didactic reformation needs to be
introduced (Buestan, Curtiembre Industria Sustentable, 5). One that will create
preventive practices which will work to reduce the amount of residue by using resources
more effectively and optimizing production in a more stable and competitive way.
One of the major reasons this problem is being addressed in Guatemala is that
the leather Tanning industry represents a significant impact in the development of the
economy because it generates many jobs and contributes to many other diverse
activities and businesses. In the productive chain all types of businesses are involved.
This includes the farmers who raise the cattle whose skin is then selled to the tanneries;
chemical providers who sell the chemicals to the tanneries; the pharmaceutical and
gelatin businesses that buy the collagen from the tanneries in order to produce their
effectiveness; a variety of different machinery, electricity, and water providers; and all
the different businesses that are involved in the manufacturing of leather products that
can range from shoe production to upholstery for automobiles (Buestan, Informe
Technico Grupal,10-23).
650,000 leather sheets per year. From this, a very little amount is exported for it to later
have an outcome equivalent to 780 million U.S dollars and represents a 1.4 percent of
the national gross domestic product. Most of these factories do count with adequate
machinery and have survived many years for they have privately held shares and have
transmitted knowledge within their family and following generations. From the 22
factories 80 percent of them are SMB's (small and medium businesses) that count with
no more than 500 employees. After implementing new technologies and reform the
processes in every factory the outcome of the Tanning Industry can be increased and
Sustentable, 2-3).
the process of production, its flaws, and where the contamination is being produced.
The Leather Industry is divided into four major divisions; raw leather production,
tannery, saddlery and craftsmanship, and footwear. From these four divisions the
tannery division is the one that generates the biggest environmental impact. The
tanning leather process is where the leather undergoes a series of physical and chemical
Phase one in the tanning process is the deliming operation. This is where
the leather is placed in a drum (a big container that rotates constantly) where the main
objective is to remove the hair from the leather; this takes place in an average of 24
hours. This involves at least ten different chemicals with a medium alkaline or ph level
of approximately twelve. In this step, 70 percent of the total contamination done in the
whole process is produced. The reason is that by adding various chemical agents the
hair and the soluble proteins are destroyed in the effluent. Consequently, it provokes a
high BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) and COD (chemical oxygen demand) which is
a pollutant (Kral, 35). After this, physical and mechanical processes get involved. One is
the removal of the endodermis of the leather which produces solid waste that consists of
grease and proteins. This accounts for 30 percent of the original leather mass which
without any additional curing process this solid waste can be highly pollutant
(Germillac, 1). Right after a process called the split is performed where
metaphorically speaking two different sheets or layers are obtained from a single
leather. The principal product (or the primary sheet) is called upper leather . The
subproduct (or the secondary sheet) is called the split with which a leather imitation
can be produced (Jader, 1) Additionally if it is not furtherly processed, this can be used
Having these chemical, mechanical, and physical processes done the leather is
taken into drums a second time. Here the ph levels are reduced gradually by the
formic acid, and salt. All of these together prepare the leather for the application of
tanning product. Both the primary product and the secondary product from the split can
undergo this tanning process. There two types of tanning products; one has a vegetable
base which is produced from trees or tree bark and the other one has a mineral base
known as basic sulfate of chrome(Planet, 1). The vegetable based tanning product is the
oldest one in use today. The tannins (molecules that react with collagen) which are
found in trees and tree bark is what gave the product its name; tannings or tanning
products. The tanning of the chrome has a characteristic which allows it to create a very
strong bond with collagen molecules. This is what gives the leather its formidable
durability (Hagerman, 2). However, the effluent of this phase contains high levels of
chrome. This chrome is called CR3 which is not poisonous, but it does generate high
levels of COD in the effluent. In the end of this phase the effluent has a ph level of 3.8
which is an acid. After being in the drum for 24 hours, the leather in this point of
production is called wet blue. The physical and mechanical processes in this phase
include the draining and shaving the leather. The leather sheets can be shaved to a
certain width according to the different products that would be produced such as
footwear, clothing, or upholstery. Both the liquid produced in the drainage and the solid
Sustentable, 40-43).
Phase three in the leather production is the re-tanning. This is the least
contaminant step in the process due to the high fixation the chemicals added have on the
leather. Approximately, a total of 20 or more chemicals are added into the drum but the
number varies between the different kinds of leather like leather for clothing, upholstery
for automobiles or domestic use, footwear for security, for kids, for ladies, and for a
variety of other specific areas where a different kind of texture and durability is needed.
The leather spends 6 hours in the drum in this stage. During this 6 hours chemicals with
multiple variations of ph levels are poured in at different times. This elevates and lowers
the ph levels constantly which is something essential to obtain the high fixation that was
mentioned earlier (INECE, 40). Due to the liquid absorbed by the leather a second
drainage is required and the leather has to be dried until it has a 16 percent of humidity
softening of the leather is done by a different machine and finally the leather is ready for
phase four which will give the leather its final finishes (INECE, 41).
In phase four there are hundreds of different finishes that can be done to the
leather giving it different colors, textures, and designs. Different colors need a different
preparation and some may require more than one layer. However, no painting process
takes more than a day. During the painting processes the pain sprays in the machines
release a small amount of ammonia gases into the environment which represent a
awareness grew. The first one to show this initiative was the leather tanning factory in
Coban. In 2014 they hired an Ecuadorian Engineer to help them with this process. His
name is Marco Buestan and he is a chemical engineer who is very knowledgeable about
the leather tanning industry, its contaminants, and the way to reduce them. He was
in Ecuador from 2010 to 2012. After working with the Coban factory for two years, in
2016 he returned to Ecuador, but rumors about his abilities started to revolve within
other factories in Guatemala. This led 7 leather tanning factories to contact Buestan in
early May and showed their interest in hiring him. After settling an agreement Buestan
visited Guatemala in August of 2016 and made a thorough evaluation of all seven
factories. After a month he returned to Ecuador with the promise to come back and give
them a complete plan to each one of how to have a cleaner production (Pac).
In November of the same year he returned with a new set of ideas and suggested
this time the an extra 5 factories showed interest in being involved in the growing
At the same time a one month course was being conducted by Marco Buestan to
instruct the factory owners on how to have a cleaner production. However this course
needed legitimacy which could be obtained by being recognized by the Environment
were being led by the leather factory owners and Marco Buestan. Together they agreed
to conclude the course and give it legitimacy by the accreditation of the MARN and the
December in 2016 where all 22 leather tanning factories were represented as well as
Alfonso Alonzo and Claudia Avila. At this event the leather factory owners came
made(Buestan, Interview).
The agreement was anticipated to identify the goals and actions that the ACG
was also agreed that both the Leather Tanning Association of Guatemala and the
Environment Ministry could give suggestions and parameters to form the agreement.
These were to be discussed and negotiated in January of the following year. Moreover,
the news were made public by the Environment Ministry (Xela Web).
Since the news were published publicly it caught the attention of the Ecuadorian
embassy whom offered the Guatemalan government to officially mark these activities as
an international relation between Guatemala and Ecuador (Xela Web). This benefited
the Association and Marco Buestan by leading the Guatemalan Government to grant a
visa to Buestan that allowed him to stay as much as two years in Guatemala without
having to leave the country. This way his collaboration could be extended and have no
passport. Two days later Buestan returned to Ecuador to craft the ACGs suggestions for
Later in January of 2017 Marco Buestan returned with the suggestions for the
agreement. The ACG and the MARN had a meeting where the suggestions from both
sides were analyzed and very little changes were made. The agreement was fused and
and natural resource minister, Sydney Samuels. The agreement had many different
points that covered the various situation that could be encountered in the future (Xela
Web).
The agreement was based on a single point and had a series of sub points. The
base point was that both sides would be coordinated to foster the use of renewable
points in the agreement settled all of the following conditions (these are not all of the
sub points found in the agreement): The MARN and the ACG have the compromise to
promote the activity between all the businesses involved in the Leather Tanning
environment; both sides have to investigate and create the information that is required to
implement new methods of analysis of the liquid waste produced in leather tanning
production process; both sides agree to offer tools with the objective of having an
personnel, and other professionals through a series of reunions in order to have more
accurate factory evaluations. Together these points generated a huge advancement to the
February 21 in 2017. After this, Marco Buestan continued to guide the ACG in order to
Having explained the process and the way Guatemala has increasingly worked
towards the reduction of the environmental impact in the leather tanning industry, it is
being done and how it can be reduced even more. The name of the project being
processes to reduce the relevant risks to humans and the environment. This creates high
economic savings for the factories through the improvement of the general efficiency of
the production and the reduction of treatment costs of the residue(Buestan, Informe
Technico Grupal 5) .
that Marco Buestan has highlighted. This includes the creation of a registry of water and
chemical consumption, the creation of better signs and labels across the factories,
the chemical product storage, and the application of new technologies throughout the
the hair from the effluent produced during the deliming operation with the objective to
reduce up to a 40 percent of the organic waste found in the final effluent. Although this
will eliminate a 40 precent of the organic waste it only reduces the contamination that
the deliming process represents for the complete tanning process by a 30 percent
(Ladino, 40). Additionally the remaining water has to be sieved for it to be recycled
which also reduces the amount of chrome or Cr2O3. Being the most contaminant steps
in the production process the deliming operation and the tanning operation are given a
priority and it is instructed to the factories to focus on these steps first. To deal with the
effluents produced in these steps the factories are instructed to create a first tank of
homogenisation equalizer for the oxidation of sodium sulfurs. This homogenisation tank
is going to serve for the effluent to be representative of the entire tanning process.
Although there are some precautions that need to be taken before mixing the effluent
from the tanning process and the effluent from the deliming process. Considering that
the effluent from the deliming process is an alkaline liquid (a liquid with a high ph
level) and the tanning effluent is an acid (has a low ph level) they cannot be combined
without previous treatments for otherwise at the moment of contact a series of chemical
reactions will elevate and lower the ph level constantly making the treatment of the
liquid impossible. Therefore the oxidation of chrome in the tanning process and the
oxidation of sulfides in the deliming process is needed to make both effluents alkaline
(oxidation consists of very complicated chemical reactions that do not contribute with
the focus of this report and therefore won't be furtherly explained). After this is done the
totems, which have a capacity of 1000 liters. The goal is to transport this liquid to
treatment facilities for which Marco Buestan has proportioned the know-how
another chemical process create a environmental friendly liquid waste (Ladino, 16-17).
Before Marco Buestan had intervened, liquid waste from the tanning process
was taken into government owned laboratories. These laboratories identified that the
effluent contained Cr2O6 or hexavalent chrome which is extremely poisonous but what
was really being produced was a trivalent chrome or Cr2O3 which is not poisonous.
After a thorough investigation, Buestan was able to deduce why the laboratories were
giving that evaluation. The problem was that to analyze the quantity of chrome in the
effluent the workers at the laboratories were heating the effluent to high temperatures
and oxidizing it at the same time. This made the trivalent chrome to be converted into
hexavalent chrome. Marco fixed the problem by recurring to the laboratories in the
conduct the effluent evaluation. Effectively these laboratory did give the right
evaluation and concluded that in the tanning process a trivalent chrome was being
agreement with the USAC for them to conduct all evaluations of the effluent produced
in the tanning process in the future. This has the promise of benefiting the Tanning
Associations integrants by giving them fair evaluations and at much lower fees
compared to the government conducted evaluations. It is also projected that the USAC
will receive a considerable amount of economic reward that will allow them to expand
their laboratory (not their personal income) due to that the USAC is a non- lucrative
establishment. Although it is yet to be signed, it is a potential win-win situation that
By analyzing the aid that has been granted by Marco Buestan, it can be
confirmed that the best available technologies in the Tanning Leather Industry can be
obtained by fostering international relations with other countries like Ecuador in order
to reduce the solid and liquid waste produced in such industry. These technological
eliminating pollutants produced. This way the Leather Tanning Industrys development
is boosted as it may comply with national regulations and uphold a transparent business.
Together the ACG, MARN will continue to work together with other countries to seek a
better future for the Leather Tanning Industry, Guatemala, and the world humans inhabit
today.
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