The Professor Chair Holder of IPB Has Developed Eco Tanner Technology
Leather is a material made from the hide or skin of an animal. Cows provide the bulk of leather used, while goats, pigs, and sheep supplement this to meet basic demand. Of the leather from cows, the majority is taken from those who are slaughtered for their meat or from dairy cows no longer producing enough milk to remain profitable. Despite most leather being obtained from animals slaughtered for meat or after producing milk, it would be foolish to assume it’s simply a by-product of these industries. There is an important economic interdependence between factory farming and the leather trade, and thus farmers do not sell every single part of each animal to minimize waste but instead to maximize revenue and profit. In actual fact, leather accounts for approximately 10% of the animal’s total value, making it the most valuable part, pound for pound. In addition for leather, animal skin can be processed for various purposes, such as gelatin, adhesives, medical purposes, and as food. For period of 2012-2016, the export of leather and footwear goods industry had increased by 6.83 percent. However, in the same period, Indonesia also imported leather and its processed products worth 0.97-1.14 billion dollars per year with an increase rate of 3.12 percent.
Professor Chair Holder of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology of Bogor Agricultural University (FATETA IPB), Dr. Ono Suparno, S.TP, MT, stated in his press conference prior his Scientific Oration at IPB Campus, Baranangsiang, Bogor, on 14 September 2017, presented his findings on productive and environmentally friendly leather processing technology towards advanced and sustainable industrial development.
According to him, the process of tannery, especially samoa tanning (Chamois leather) takes a long time. Chamois leather is a type of porous leather, traditionally the skin of the chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), a type of European mountain goat but today it is made almost exclusively from the flesh split of a sheepskin. This skin has specific functions as a high-grade oil filter, optical cleanser, window cleaner, car body, eyewear and other uses. The Chamois leather is a popular leather skin in the realm of leather trade. Therefore, productive and environmentally friendly tannery technology needs to be developed and applied to realize sustainable and advanced industrial development.
"Efforts to increase productivity can be implemented through several methods such as shortened the time of production process, optimizing raw materials, and reduce the amount of waste or by-products," he said.
Efforts in shortening the samoa tanning process, Prof. Ono Suparno, utilizing the acceleration process of tannery tehnology. This technique uses oxidizing agents of sodium percarbonate, hydrogen peroxide, and sodium hypochlorite (NaClO). The best combination treatment is to use a 2 percent sodium hypochlorite oxidizer. Through this technique, within two-day the samoa skin tanning process will be completed, whereas normally the samoa skin tanning process takes 9-12 days.
Prof. Ono stated that efforts to optimize tannery ingredients and minimize waste can be completed through increased chromium fixation on the skin and reduction of chrome dosage through combination tanning. Chroming can be substituted with a combination of vegetable-aldehyde and naphthyl aldehydes. Rubber seed oil can be used as a substitute for fish oil in samoa skin production. Effective management of restricted chemical in leather production refers to the Restricted substance list (RSL) consisting of product restricted substaince list (PRSL) and restricted substance lists (MRSL) material.
"The skin tanning technology, five percent of the combination of chromium can be reduced so the skin will have better physical properties than other regular processed products," added Prof. Ono.
