Vertec Biosolvents Press Releases!

Revolutionary Cleaning Solvents Made From Corn, Soybeans Unveiled

Articles

Reprinted  from ILLINOIS AGRINEWS, Friday December 24, 1999 AgriNews Publications By Daniel J. Grant

BLOOMINGTON, IL Although many of them might not know it yet, a potential market is developing for corn and soybeans that growers could eventually clean up on, literally.

A revolutionary development by VERTEC BIOSOLVENTS. a Mt. Prospect, Ill., firm, has led to cleaning solvents made from both corn  and soybeans.

The various solvents, which are manufactured products like industrial cleaning agents, hand cleaners and paint removers, are  currently being distributed in Northern and Central Illinois by Mark Henneberry of Henneberry Marketing.

He recently demonstrated the products at the Illinois AgriNews Bloomington news bureau, removing paint with great success and then cleaning up afterward.

'My marketing firm has marketed agricultural products since the early 1990s, and we’ve seen products come and go,' said  Henneberry, an ag-derived product specialist who experienced great success with soy-based cleaners in the European market. 'What I saw was these products that have a lot of potential. Potential not only for farmers,  by opening new markets, but potential for industry.'

'These cleaners don’t smell and they’re replacing petroleum-based cleaners, so they don’t take away from the earth’s resources,'  he added. 'It's a whole different way to clean.'

VERTEC BIOSOLVENTS announced the release of two new cleaning and degreasing solvents made with ethyl lactate, a biodegradable  solvent derived from corn starch and soybean oil. These environmentally friendly cleaners, which emit no toxic ozone depleting fumes, are sold under the trademarks VertecBio EL and VertecBio Gold.

'These products are high-performance, green solvents that can successfully replace hundreds of millions of pounds of toxic petroleum-based chemical compounds used in the world today,' said James Opre, president of VERTEC BIOSOLVENTS. 'They are also ideal for formulating degreasers, hand cleaners, ink removers, and paint strippers.'

Both VertecBio EL and VertecBio Gold have U.S. patents pending on the formulation or manufacturing processes. Now it’s just a matter of getting the word out, according to Henneberry.

'Number one, people don’t know it’s out there. Number two, it works extremely well. And, number three, we’re just now learning all the applications for it,' Henneberry said. 'Somebody who has a factory or farming operation and wonders if they could use VertecBio Gold for a particular use, we could actually find out and learn with the user.'

A rigorous experimental protocol, recently completed at the Argonne National Laboratory, demonstrated that ethyl lactate-based VertecBIo EL outperforms all conventional solvents for degreasing applications. Similar tests directed at paint stripping also produced dramatic result.

'Little by little the Environmental Protection Agency is systematically eliminating cleaning products (industries) can use,'  said Mark Lambert, communications director for the Illinois Corn Growers Association / Marketing Board. 'As they do that, people are scrambling to find products to replace it.'

We’re also trying to raise awareness to the fact that the list of things that can be made from corn continues to grow,' Lambert  noted. 'I think things like these cleaners, solvents and corn plastics haven’t taken off yet. But I think it’s all coming and it’s coming soon.'

And if it does, that will be extremely good news for corn producers. Approximately one bushel of grain is required to  manufacture each gallon of solvent.

'Any corn market is a good corn market,' Lambert said. 'We have a lot of need to broaden our conventional thinking (for the  various uses of grain).'

VertecBio EL and VertecBio Gold are being tested in many industries including automotive, aircraft, printing, municipal, and institutional cleaning. Both products can serve as drop in replacements for mineral spirits, lacquer thinner, xylene, NMP, MEK¹s and other hydrocarbon degreasing solvents.

Price-wise, the new grain based products are more costly that their conventional counterparts, but Henneberry said the real  catch of the products are their effectiveness and environmentally friendly characteristics.

'When you look at petroleum products and consider things like disposal cost and insurance, it¹s cheaper,' Henneberry said of the  Versol product line. 'But, per gallon, this costs more.'

However, you also have to consider that it’s a very strong cleaner, so a little goes a long way,' he continued. 'You can do jobs  with half the solvent (as traditional products), then you’re talking no price difference at all.'

As for production, Henneberry foresees no problem at all meeting, what he hopes, is increased demand for the Versols in the very near future. VERTEC BIOSOLVENTS, Inc. and Archer Daniels Midland signed a joint agreement to commercialize new markets for ethyl lactate.

'The key is the product is manufactured at ADM so, obviously, we have the resources to handle the demand,' Henneberry added.

For marketing information for VertecBio EL or VertecBio Gold or to place an order, it can be found on the World Wide Web sites  vertecbiosolvents.com and newuseproducts.com or by calling Henneberry Marketing at (309) 527-2231.

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