Comparative Study Regarding Leather Biodegradability

This paper presents a comparative study regarding the biodegradability of three types of organic tanned leathers: vegetable tanned leather, leather tanned with oxazolidine and leather tanned with resorcinol ? oxazolidine, and three types of leather tanned with inorganic tanning agents: based on Chromium (III), based on Ti-Al, based on Ti-Zr. For assessment of leather biodegradation, EN ISO 20200:2005 was used as method. Physical-chemical analyses were performed on leathers at day zero and after 90, 120 and 220 days of composting. The conclusion of the study is that all types of tanned leather studied undergo the biodegradation process, but at different rates. The leather tanned with oxazolidine and vegetable tanned leather are more biodegradable than leathers tanned with resorcinol-oxazolidine. The leather tanned with resorcinol-oxazolidine is more stable at biodegradation.