Stabilized protein waste as a source for removal of color from wastewaters

Seeking solution to pollution problems is a prime concern of many researchers today. The waste from one industry can be judiciously used to treat another waste. This concept has been used in this study, wherein, the fleshing, a solid waste (biopolymer) emanating from leather industry has been used as an adsorbent for removal of dyes from wastewater. Fleshing has been crosslinked with glutaraldehyde to stabilize it against degradation. The various parameters like effect of pH, role of salt concentration, adsorbent dosage, and initial concentration of dye have been standardized. About 90% dye removal has been achieved by treating 100 mg/L dye solution with 12 g/L of glutaraldehyde‐crosslinked fleshing. The dye removal has been found to follow Langmuir type of adsorption isotherm. The optimized parameters of batch adsorption studies have been applied to treat sectional wastewater from a commercial tannery. The study also explores the possibility of reusing the dye loaded fleshing as a reductant in the manufacture of a tanning salt, which is used in leather industry for tanning of leathers. Thus, a holistic solution to both solid and liquid waste has been presented in this work. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010