Curing agents for leather manufacturers
You may salt or chill hides and skins to preserve them. If you chill hides and skins you should refer to the refrigeration guidance.
What you must do
You must store, handle and dispose of bactericides and fungicides with extreme care.
You must have an authorisation, such as a licence, permit or consent, from your environmental regulator before you discharge any sewage, effluent or contaminated run-off to the water environment. You must comply with any conditions in your authorisation.
Contact your environmental regulator
Trade effluent is any liquid waste you discharge from your business.
Before you discharge trade effluent into a public sewer you must have a trade effluent consent or enter into a trade effluent agreement with your water or sewerage company or authority. You must comply with the conditions of your consent or agreement.
Trade effluent - managing liquid wastes
Water UK: Water and sewerage operators
Scotland on Tap - Water and sewerage operators in Scotland
Good practice
Bactericides and fungicides are highly polluting to the water environment. You should use products with the lowest environmental impact, such as sodium or potassium di-methhyl-thiocarbamate and use them in the lowest possible concentration.
You should store raw hides and skins, whether loose or in crates, in areas where run-off will not enter surface water drains or seep into the ground.
Salt can pollute both surface waters and groundwater. You should store salt correctly to prevent it washing into drains. This will protect the environment and could also save you money. You should store salt:
- under cover; if this is not possible, protect it from rain with an impermeable membrane
- on an impervious base which is at least 10 metres from a watercourse.
Sweep up any spilt salt or salt that you shake off hides and skins and dispose of it as waste.
You should protect salted hides from the rain to prevent the salt being washed off.