Plant-Based Solvents: The Future of Industrial Cleaning

As a pillar of corporate safety, from the rough manufacturing floors to the demanding processing plants, industrial cleaning comes with substantial hidden costs, often involving environmental repercussions and heavy health risks for the entire workforce.

This requires a strict commitment to responsibility, and bringing in eco-conscious investors on the board. Which is why industries today must opt for effective cleaning solutions that address environmental and health responsibilities, according to the legal and green standards.

Thus, with the emergence of high-performance plant-based solvents, at RE: CHEMISTRY, we provide not merely green alternatives, but a transformative shift that meets rigorous industrial standards, all while keeping workforces and the planet safe.

So, without further ado, let’s discuss why adopting eco-friendly industrial cleaning solutions is no longer simply about compliance, but a fundamental change and an imperative that businesses must aim for to improve their market positioning and long-term business viability.

Traditional Solvents: What is The Problem?

For decades now, formulators have relied on traditional petrochemical-based cleaning solvents, primarily for developing products that can remove grime. However, the actual costs of these solutions are far beyond their formulation price.

VOC Emissions: A Breath of Un-fresh Air

Most of the conventional industrial cleaning formulas with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that have high vapor pressure, which means that they evaporate into the atmosphere under normal temperature and pressure conditions. So, when these cleaning solvents are used in a product, VOCs are released into the air, contributing to an increasing air pollution and ozone, which remains a serious public health concern.

Alarmingly, VOC concentrations can be consistently higher indoors than outdoors, up to ten times higher, as per EPA, with elevated concentrations persisting long after the cleaning process is done. To reduce the harmful effects, the EPA actively regulates outdoor VOC emissions to prevent ozone formation, underscoring the severity of the issue. Bottom line, the extensive nature of these pollutants creates an unhealthy work environment and contributes to the broader ecological degradation.

Flammability and Health Risks: A Constant Hazard

Flammable solvents are ubiquitous across a wide range of formulations, characterized by low flash points, meaning they can ignite at relatively low temperatures, often below 60°C. Their vapors can volatilize and form explosive mixtures with air easily, which is a risk for poorly ventilated areas where these vapors can accumulate to dangerous concentrations.

The dangers associated with these chemicals extend beyond flammability, including uncontrolled chemical spills, asphyxiation from vapors, chemical burns, and significant property damage. Furthermore, in the event of a fire, these solvents can release highly toxic fumes, exacerbating the immediate danger and long-term environmental impact. Due to these extreme risks, their storage and handling are subject to stringent regulations.

Workers regularly exposed to traditional cleaning chemicals face an elevated risk of various health issues, ranging from immediate skin irritation and respiratory problems to severe, long-term illnesses.

Environmental Contamination: Horrible Legacy

The environmental impact of traditional industrial cleaning formulas can be often long-lasting. For example, phosphates, commonly found in many traditional cleaning agents, can lead to eutrophication—a process where nutrient accumulation in water bodies results in excessive growth of microorganisms that deplete oxygen, severely harming aquatic life and disrupting entire ecosystems.

Furthermore, the improper disposal of industrial cleaning chemicals can lead to severe soil contamination. A significant concern is that many legacy chemicals used in traditional cleaning are not easily degraded, meaning they persist in the environment for extended periods, compounding environmental harm over time.

RE:CHEMISTRY’s Plant-Based Solvents: A Greener, Safer Path

In stark contrast to the traditional counterparts, our plant-based solvents offer your industrial cleaning formulas a compelling array of advantages that align with modern industrial demands for both efficacy and responsibility. Most importantly, our solutions are a greener, safer and more sustainable path forward for the industrial cleaning formulations.

Low VOCs and Improved Air Quality

One of the most significant advantages of using RE:CHEMISTRY’s plant-based solvents is that our formula has low volatile organic compounds (VOCs). By reducing VOC emissions, our plant-based solvents directly contribute to improved air quality within the workplace, providing tangible benefits for industrial facilities, including a reduced need for expensive and specialized ventilation equipment, and a lower risk of respiratory irritation among workers.

Improved Safety and Handling

By creating plant-based solvents, we managed to reduce exposure to harmful chemicals for personnel that use them in their formulas. We make cleaning solutions safer for users, animals, and aquatic life, resulting in a reduced risk of skin irritation, and no exposure to toxic fumes or synthetic fragrances that can trigger allergies.

Uncompromised Performance

A common misconception is that "eco-friendly" implies a compromise on cleaning power. Our modern eco-friendly solvents for industrial degreasers are engineered to perform as well as, or even surpass, traditional solutions. They are highly effective at dissolving and lifting heavy-duty industrial soils, grease, and grime. Our key differentiator is biodegradability - we create solvents that naturally break down in environments, significantly reducing long-term ecological damage.

CLEAN-300 (Levulinate Propanediol Ketal): A High-Performance Plant-Based Solvent

If you’re looking to create cleaning solutions with powerful performance and unparalleled safety and environmental responsibility, solvents like our CLEAN-300 is one of the leading examples.

We’ve developed CLEAN-300 to embody all the advantages of traditional industrial cleaning solvents for formulas: it is a high-performance cleaning solvent for industrial use that is plant-based, biodegradable and designed with low VOC emissions. We offer an improved safety profile that protects workers and the environment, while delivering the robust cleaning power necessary for the most demanding industrial applications, from food-grade degreasing to heavy-duty manufacturing floor cleaning. CLEAN-300 is the pinnacle of modern industrial cleaning solvents, proving that effective cleaning does not have to come at the expense of health or the planet. We offer you a sustainable alternative to traditional petrochemical-ridden solvents that delivers comparable, and often, superior performance to your industrial cleaning formula.

The long-term economic benefits, driven by reduced health costs, lower disposal fees, and improved brand image, highlight that solutions like CLEAN-300 are not just an ethical choice but a financially prudent one.

Want to create safer cleaning formulas without compromising performance? Contact our team for CLEAN-300, our top plant-based cleaner today.