Solid state fermentation and composting as alternatives to treat hair waste : a LCA comparative approach
Catalán Campillo, Eva (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental)
Komilis, Dimitrios (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental)
Sanchez, Antoni (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental)

Date:	2017
Abstract:	One of the wastes associated with leather production in tannery industries is the hair residue generated during the dehairing process. Hair wastes are mainly dumped or managed through composting but recent studies propose the treatment of hair wastes through solid-state fermentation (SSF) to obtain proteases and compost. These enzymes are suitable for its use in an enzymatic dehairing process, as an alternative to the current chemical dehairing process. In the present work, two different scenarios for the valorization of the hair waste are proposed and assessed by means of life-cycle assessment: composting and SSF for protease production. Detailed data on hair waste composting and on SSF protease production are gathered from previous studies performed by our research group and from a literature survey. Background inventory data are mainly based on Ecoinvent version 3 from software SimaPro® 8. The main aim of this study was to identify which process results in the highest environmental impact. The SSF process was found to have lower environmental impacts than composting, due to the fact that the enzyme use in the dehairing process prevents the use of chemicals traditionally used in the dehairing process. This permits to reformulate an industrial process from the classical approach of waste management to a novel alternative based on circular economy.
Grants:	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CTM2015-69513R Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca TECSPR13-1-0006
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió sotmesa a revisió
Subject:	Life-cycle assessment ; Dehairing ; Hair waste ; Solid-state fermentation ; Tanning industry
Published in:	Waste management and research, Vol. 35, issue 7 (2017) , p. 786-790, ISSN 0734-242X

DOI: 10.1177/0734242X17709909

Preprint 15 p, 596.6 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Engineering > Composting Research Group (GICOM)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles