GFBiochemicals.com
On 25 June 2026, GFBiochemicals hosted the first edition of the RE:CHEMISTRY Webinar Series, a technical session dedicated to one question the cleaning industry can no longer postpone: How do we replace petrochemical solvents in heavy duty cleaning without giving up performance or cost efficiency?
As oil prices rise and supply chain pressures intensify, formulators and manufacturers in the Industrial & Institutional (I&I) sector are actively looking for more resilient alternatives. During the webinar, our team showed that the solution already exists: RE:CHEMISTRY technology, a range of plant-based solvents designed to meet the highest performance standards while making formulations safer and more sustainable. Here are the key takeaways.
Mathieu Flamini – Co-Founder & CEO, GFBiochemicals. Former international athlete, WEF Young Global Leader and member of the Sustainability Committee for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Vincent Enaux – Chief Commercial Officer. Chemical engineer (MBA) with 25 years of industrial experience in commercial and business development.
Sundip Joshi – Application Manager, HI&I and Personal Care. Specialist Formulation Chemist with 26 years of experience in innovation and product development.
Not every cleaning task needs a solvent. Easy dirt comes off with water, and tough dirt with water and surfactants. But stubborn and persistent soils – cured resins, bitumen, carbonised oil, adhesives and aged greases – require water, surfactants and solvents working together. That is exactly where traditional petrochemical solvents have dominated, and where the pressure to change is now the strongest.
Tanks and vessels often hold cured or semi-cured residues such as polyurethanes, isocyanates, alkyds, epoxies, polyesters, bitumen, heavy oils and waxes. Conventional solvents – D-limonene, glycol ethers, NMP and aromatic hydrocarbons – typically require:
Long dwell times, high temperatures and mechanical scraping
Multiple cleaning cycles and rinses, causing downtime and a risk of contaminating the next batch
Handling of high-VOC, strong-smelling and low-flash-point chemicals, which increases ATEX requirements
Hazard labelling that drives up PPE, training, insurance and waste disposal costs
Burnt-on oil, oxidised lubricants and hydraulic oil, lithium and calcium complex greases, metalworking fluids, tar, adhesive residue and diesel soot are among the most demanding soils in any plant. Many high-solvency solvents do not emulsify well in waterborne systems, separate during use and leave oily films. At the same time, regulators are tightening the rules on D-limonene, aromatics, NMP/NEP and some glycol ethers, while EHS teams are asking for non-hazardous, low-VOC and bio-based alternatives.
Built on GFBiochemicals' proprietary levulinate platform, the webinar focused on two bio-based solvents, MOVE200 and SOLVE100. No single solvent is the answer to every soil, so this recap also covers CLEAN300, the closest match in the RE:CHEMISTRY range to aromatic solvents and D-limonene.
MOVE200 is our most versatile, high-performing bio-based solvent for tank cleaning and degreasing. Its Hansen solubility profile sits in a “sweet spot” that combines medium polarity, strong hydrophobic solvency and excellent compatibility with polymers and resins. It is a polar ester with properties comparable to NMP, NEP, MEK, ethyl acetate and THF, which makes it ideal for solubilising:
Polyurethane prepolymers, polyols and isocyanate-rich residues
Acrylics, alkyds and semi-cured polymeric films
Oxidised oils, additive-rich lubricants and mixed grease/oil residues
Oils, greases, heavy hydrocarbons and adhesives
With a high boiling point of 238°C, MOVE200 stays liquid on the soil for longer, diffuses into semi-polar layers and softens oxidised or polymerised residues, reducing the need for repeated application. It emulsifies readily with surfactants, forms stable microemulsions, rinses cleanly and can be diluted depending on soil load – enabling low-VOC, water-based tank cleaners with high solvency power. Low odour and low vapour pressure also mean less irritation and lower inhalation exposure compared with aromatics, ketones and glycol ethers.
SOLVE100 complements MOVE200 with higher polarity and faster evaporation. It penetrates polar and semi-polar residues and improves the removal of inks, dyes, surfactant-rich soils and emulsions. Used as a co-solvent, it accelerates cleaning and balances the polarity of a blend. Combined, MOVE200 and SOLVE100 create a tunable solvency system that can outperform many petrochemical blends.
When the goal is to replace aromatic hydrocarbons or D-limonene directly, CLEAN300 is the closest match in the RE:CHEMISTRY range. It is a high-performance plant-based solvent with no hazard labelling: 100% biodegradable, non-flammable (flash point above 93°C) and non-toxic to aquatic life. With a boiling point of 225°C and a very low evaporation rate, it stays on the surface to keep working, and it already delivers fast degreasing of industrial surfaces in the automotive, aerospace and rail sectors.
Choosing the right solvent depends on the soil: CLEAN300 as the direct alternative to aromatics and D-limonene, MOVE200 for polymers, resins and oxidised residues, and SOLVE100 to boost polarity and cleaning speed. Our application team helps formulators select and combine them for each application.
Heavy duty soils are rarely one thing. They are multi-phase mixtures of hydrocarbons, oxidised components, resins and additives. In a co-solvent blend, non-polar solvents dissolve the hydrocarbon-rich fractions, while MOVE200 and SOLVE100 target the polar and semi-polar components, penetrate deeper into aged layers and keep soils in true solution for better wipe-off and less redeposition.
Sundip Joshi presented a tar removal test on stainless steel tiles. After 100 cleaning cycles, 100% D-limonene reached 93% cleaning. A blend of 33% MOVE200 and 66% D-limonene reached 94%. In other words, one third of the petrochemical-derived solvent can be replaced with a bio-based alternative while matching cleaning performance, and reducing the time taken to achieve a comparative clean. A grease removal test on metal panels coated with lithium grease further compared D-limonene, SOLVE100 and MOVE200 after a 90-second immersion.
Co-solvency and cost reduction: high solubilisation power lowers solvent and surfactant loading in the finished product.
Compaction: multifunctional, synergistic behaviour reduces the number of formulation components.
VOC reduction: LVP-VOC according to CARB and non-VOC according to the Industrial Emissions Directive.
Non-flammable: no ATEX requirements, easier handling and storage, and lower insurance costs.
Safer for people and the planet: non-toxic for the aquatic environment (no ‘dead fish’ labelling), non-bioaccumulative, and biodegradable according to OECD guidelines.
Lower carbon footprint: negative to low product carbon footprint, naturally derived according to ISO16128.
Supply resilience: less dependence on petroleum price volatility.
RE:CHEMISTRY is the result of more than 10 years of R&D and over 200 patents. GFBiochemicals converts biomass into levulinic acid, a bio-based building block, and then into high-performance esters and ketals. Our 1000 m² laboratories in Aix-en-Provence include a dedicated application lab for I&I, Home Care, CASE, and Personal Care. Learn more about our environmental impact and our solutions for the HI&I market, or read more in Clean Without Compromise: The New Era of High-Power, Low-Risk Solvents and Plant-Based Solvents: The Future of Industrial Cleaning. To replace aromatics or D-limonene, see CLEAN300.
They are plant-derived solvents that dissolve tough industrial soils – resins, oils, greases, tar and adhesives – as effectively as petrochemical solvents, with a safer and lower impact profile. RE:CHEMISTRY MOVE200 and SOLVE100 are levulinate esters and CLEAN300 is a levulinate ketal, all made from biomass.
MOVE200 has a solvency profile similar to NMP, NEP and MEK. In a tar removal test, replacing one third of D-limonene with MOVE200 delivered equivalent cleaning performance versus pure D-Limonene.
CLEAN300 is the closest match to aromatic solvents and D-limonene in the RE:CHEMISTRY range. MOVE200 and SOLVE100 work best on polymeric, resinous and oxidised soils, or as co-solvents that reduce the D-limonene content of a formulation.
Yes. MOVE200 emulsifies readily with surfactants, forms stable microemulsions and can be diluted depending on soil load, enabling low-VOC, water-based formulations.
No. They are non-flammable, which removes ATEX requirements and simplifies handling, storage and insurance.
Whether you formulate tank cleaners, degreasers, tar or graffiti removers, our application team can help you replace petrochemical solvents with high-performance, bio-based alternatives. Contact us at info@gfbiochemicals.com to request a trial sample of MOVE200, SOLVE100 or CLEAN300. Follow us on LinkedIn so you don’t miss the next edition of the RE:CHEMISTRY Webinar Series.
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