One of the great technological challenges of this century is to identify alternative energy sources. The utilization of leather wastes (biomass) to generate energy becomes interesting due to its heating value, as well as for the characteristics of the ash generated, which could be used in other processes such as the production of basic chromium sulfate. Resulting from a partnership between research agencies and private businesses, a semi-pilot unit (350 kw th ) was designed and built to process leather wastes. The operation of this semi-pilot unit started in August, 2003. During this period, approximately 200 tons of wastes were treated in over 2,500 h of processing. The semi-pilot unit consists basically of a stratified downdraft gasifier, an oxidation reactor and an air pollution control system (APC). In this paper, the gasifier's emissions were evaluated and the ash and the flue gas were characterized.