Green Solvents: A Sustainable Approach to Chemistry!

Circular Economy in Chemicals: Collaborative Supply Chain Solutions!

In the manufacturing industry, more organizations are turning to sustainable solvent products as they strive to do their part to protect the natural environment. Green solvents are renewable sources and engineered for low toxicity. What’s more, they use a sustainable approach to chemical processes.

Such solvents enhance cleaning performance in an industry with a reputation for harmful waste products. They pave the way for industries to achieve cleaner energy and reduce their ecological footprint.

Let’s delve into what green solvents are and why they are important in different industries to help the planet.

Benefits of Switching to Green Solvents

For you and fellow stakeholders in your company who have been thinking of transitioning to green solvents, a review of the many benefits of making the switch may encourage you to “go green” today with these ecofriendly products.

You can substitute green solvents in many scenarios where you use traditional solvents, ranging from coatings and paint and cosmetics, to cleaning or degreasing supplies. Printer supply businesses make ink using green solvents, just as electronic manufacturers and adhesives factories have come to rely on environmentally friendly solvents.

Whether you deal with food and beverages or are a member of the agrochemical industry, you can rely on green solvents to boost worker safety due to their non-toxic qualities.

Major benefits include low-toxicity or non-toxic applications, lowered expenses (in terms of monitoring and safeguarding toxic products) and better morale for employees because their working environment minimizes exposure to harmful substances.

With green solvents, you can tout your sustainability and ecofriendly processes to customers to help boost your brand as a forward-thinking, environmentally minded organization.

Basics of Green Solvents

When it comes to solvent products, manufacturers no longer need to rely on caustic materials to achieve their production run goals and keep operations proceeding smoothly. If you’re new to using green solvents, an introduction is in order.

Green solvents tend to occur in liquid form with common examples including detergents, solvents designed to remove glue, nail polish removers, paint thinners and spot cleaners.

Green solvents are characterized as being biodegradable, sustainable products that have low-toxicity or no toxicity, and low percentages of volatile organic compounds or VOCs.

Manufacturers make green solvents out of corn, citrus, soybean derivatives and similarly sustainable products. When you make the switch to green solvents from conventional industrial solvents, you are taking an important step forward in minimizing your organization’s environmental impact.

Compared to traditional solvent products with high levels of VOCs and that are made from fossil fuels, green solvents break down harmlessly in the environment. Your company will minimize its contributions to pollution, while helping promote the use of renewable materials.

Manufacturers Use Solvents for A Wide Range of Products

If you’re giving serious consideration to using green solvents, you’re not alone. Manufacturers require the use of solvents in a wide variety of products, such as house paint, nail varnish remover, coffee and coffee sweeteners, and soluble headache treatments.

Because many traditional solvents have major environmental impacts, such as benzene, carbon tetrachloride and diethyl ether, manufacturers are looking to integrate green solvents into their supply chain and reduce harmful emissions from their processes.

Different sectors in the chemical industry put out varying amounts of pollution, or waste products, due to their use of harmful solvents. According to a scientific journal[DM1] , the pharmaceutical industry produces the highest proportion of waste products due to solvents, because of their reliance on “multi-step liquid-phase batch operations” involving multiple solvents to prepare, isolate and purify their products.

Chemistry Industry Using Green Solvents in Chromatography

Perhaps you own or manage a chemicals company that is looking to go green and you have already identified that traditional solvents are on your list to phase out. When it comes to chromatography, “green” chemistry solvents include:

Ionic fluids
Supercritical carbon dioxide
Water

Manufacturers prize water for being ubiquitous and inexpensive while eminently suitable for separating polar molecules. You can harness ionic liquids to separate a whole host of molecular compounds.

For chromatography, the chemical industry is using green solvents for:

Ion-exchange chromatography: Separate molecules according to their various charges.
Reverse-phased chromatography: Use methanol or a similar non-polar solvent.
Normal-phased chromatography: Employ ethanol or water during the mobile phase, and toluene, hexane or other non-polar solvents for the stationary phase.

Incentives to Switch

Federal regulatory burdens and the desire to adhere to the latest industry best practices often prompt companies to make a move from conventional solvents to green solvents. They won’t need to spend as much time developing and designing their next or updated manufacturing line processes, for example, since the toxic element is eliminated from consideration.

With green solvents, occupational safety is easier to maintain. Customers enquiring about your manufacturing’s impact on the environment can rest assured that your organization is on their side as responsible stewards of the earth.

With lower expenditures earmarked for toxic cleanups and safeguarding caustic chemicals, you can devote more resources to such efforts as additional research and development, employee recruitment, marketing or facilities expansion.

Using Green Solvents to Protect the Planet

It’s clear that green solvents are a prudent solution to the ills that come from old-fashioned chemical manufacturing processes.

For the sake of the planet and to help protect the health of our children, grandchildren and the succeeding generations, it’s incumbent on all participants in the manufacturing industry to do what they can to eliminate caustic substances from their production processes.

If your competitors are already using ecofriendly solvents, you can assume they will announce this fact to their customers and the press. It makes sense to begin the transition to green solvents now, so you can keep a competitive edge.

Relying on new green solvents will help manufacturers minimize their impact on the environment, which is a fact they can communicate to customers, partners, investors and potential new employees to solidify their ecofriendly credentials.