The revaluation of solid waste from the GOAST tanning

Abstract

Research summary supplied by the authors

To highlight the LIFEGOAST project's attention to sustainability, the entire production cycle of the leather supply chain was taken into account. Therefore, besides developing a new metal-free tanning technology, the LIFEGOAST project pointed attention to the requalifi cation of solid wastes derived from it. In this work, the solid waste coming from the leather shaving process was considered. The approach chosen is that of pyrolysis. The pyrolysis aimed at obtaining biochar that could be used for the formulation of new materials. Pyrolysis is a thermal process conducted at high temperatures in the absence of oxidizing agents, which involves the decomposition of organic material with the consequent formation of a solid fraction (biochar), a condensable fraction (biooil) and a gaseous fraction (biogas). Within the LIFEGOAST project, the goal was to maximize the yield in the solid fraction (biochar) by selecting appropriate operating conditions. In this context, the biochar obtained from LIFEGOAST leather shaving has shown promising characteristics for its application as a soil conditioner, anode for lithium batteries, replacement of aggregates in cementitious materials and production of activated carbon and last but not least as a biocharms. Kaywords: LifeGoast, solid waste, pyrolysis, biochar, new materials.