GREEN CHEMISTRY
consumption of materials. Together, we need to build a more sustainable future. The sources we tap for our energy, the efficient use of raw materials, and the approaches and actions required to protect people and planet – much of this can be traced to the advance of the circular economy.
Secondary raw materials recovered from industrial streams can replace primary raw materials if the recovered materials are of good quality, and if they are as reliable and as safe as the virgin alternatives. Solvents are perfect candidates for this circular model and recycling them contributes to environmental protection and can enhance a company ' s green credentials – something that is becoming more and more important for investors and customers alike. The technologies involved in solvent recovery are highly scalable, making them accessible for companies of all sizes.
High-grade, low carbon solvents
By recycling solvents, companies can minimise the amounts of hazardous materials that need to be managed and disposed, while reducing the carbon footprint associated with producing and transporting new solvents. In fact, it should be possible to offer a carbon calculation for any industrial recovery project.
These calculations include a number of components, including energy and fuel efficiencies. As well as internal tools customised for specific extractions, a very useful tool for estimating carbon savings is the University of Manchester’ s CCaLC( Carbon Calculations over the Life Cycle) lifecycle methodology and decision support tool for industrial users.
CCaLC calculates the carbon savings that can be made from recycling materials from industrial streams. It includes a database of more than 6,000 items, and helps manufacturers understand and demonstrate the carbon savings made through recycling solvents and other raw materials, rather than always using virgin materials. According to a recent study performed by the University of Manchester, using CCaLC, recycling solvents can save 46-92 % of greenhouse gas emissions, compared with virgin solvents.
Path to sustainability & cost-efficiency
The transition from buying new solvents to practising routine
solvent recovery brings various benefits that help companies save money, simplify their supply chains and become more environmentally friendly.
Modern technologies and processes enable the recovery of increasingly complex solvents, across a range of volume scales. They also ensure that many recovered solvents are chemically indistinguishable from virgin materials, with high quality and purity being achieved as solvents are recovered exactly to their original forms.
In fact, the advantages of solvent recovery are so overwhelming – economically, practically and environmentally – surely the question is no longer why companies should be doing it, but rather, when?
We anticipate a future in which all companies embrace the principles of using their industrial streams to recover secondary raw materials and supply clean energies. Such a shift seems inevitable, as a growing and increasingly demanding global population must take heed of limited resources. A circular economy provides the only logical solution, and the sooner we embrace it, the better off we all will be. ●
Stuart Barker
COMMERCIAL MANAGER EU & UK j
INDAVER SOLVENTS www. indaversolvents. com
68 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981