Impacts of Chromium from Tannery Effluent and Evaluation of Alternative Treatment Options (Report‪)‬

1. Introduction All sectors of our society generate waste: industry, agriculture, mining, energy, transportation, construction and consumers. Waste contains pollutants which are discarded materials, process materials or chemicals. Pollution could be caused by these pollutants when they are released beyond the assimilation capacity of the environment. Industrial wastes are generated from different processes and the amount and toxicity of waste released varies with its own specific industrial processes [1]. Tannery effluents are ranked as the highest pollutants among all industrial wastes. They are especially large contributors of chromium pollution. For instance, in India alone about 2000-3000 tone of chromium escapes into the environment annually from tannery industries, with chromium concentrations ranging between 2000 and 5000 mg/l in the aqueous effluent compared to the recommended permissible discharge limits of 2 mg/l [2].