Industry Report

Global Green and Bio Solvents Market, 2016–2020

Technavio, London, UK vents across various industries are likely to propel the growth
prospects of the green and biobased solvents market during the
forecast period.
Introduction In this industry research report, analysts have estimated fac-
tors like the growing awareness of the various benefits of using

T
echnavio’s market study report, Global Green and Bio
Solvents Market, 2016–2020, presents a detailed methyl soyate as a biobased solvent to impel the prospects for
segmentation of the global green and biobased sol- market growth in the coming years. In 2006, BioSpan Tech-
vents market by type (lactate esters, methyl soyate nologies (Washington, MO) developed a variant of soy-based
solvents, alcohols, and D-limonene), by application (paints and solvent that helped to replace conventional solvents like hydrocar-
coatings, printing inks, cleaning products, and adhesives and bons. Moreover, the company developed a replacement for asphalt
sealants), and by geography (Asia Pacific, Central and South cement by blending biobased solvents such as methyl soyate and
America, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World). The other newly created solvents. The various uses of methyl soyate as a
key vendors in the market are Archer Daniels Midland (ADM, biobased solvent will bolster this market’s growth potential until the
Chicago, IL), BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany), BioAmber end of 2020.
(Plymouth, MN), Cargill (Wayzata, MN), Dow Chemical
(Midland, MI), DuPont (Wilmington, DE), and Huntsman (Salt Market Size and Forecast
Lake City, UT). The global green and bio solvents market reported revenue of
Extensive research carried out by the analysts at Technavio $6.52 billion in 2015 and will post a revenue of $9.79 billion by
has shown that the global green and biobased solvents market 2020, growing at a CAGR of 8.47% (Fig. 1)
will grow at an impressive compound annual growth rate The high demand for green and biobased solvents in different
(CAGR) of more than 8% during the forecast period. Growing industries, including cleaners (domestic and industrial) and
acceptance among numerous end-user industries is driving the paints and coatings, will upsurge their overall consumption.
market for green and biobased solvents globally. The need for Market vendors are witnessing rising demand for green and
greener and sustainable chemicals has increased the research biobased solvents globally. Production is primarily dominated
and development of renewable feedstock. Moreover, most by North America, especially the US. Countries such as the US,
companies prefer green and biobased solvents over conven- Germany, Japan, China, India, the UK, and the Netherlands are
tional chemical solvents. Also, green solvents use renewable the rising markets for these solvents. Green and biobased
raw materials as feedstock and emit less volatile organic solvent-producing research institutions and companies are in-
compounds (VOCs). The low toxicity of green solvents has fusing massive investment in technology development. These
enabled their use in a variety of applications such as painting investments are expected to create biobased solvents with
and coatings, printing inks, cleaning products, adhesives and comparable performance to conventional solvents.
sealants, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture chemicals, among
others. The extensive applications of green and biobased sol-
Market Overview
In 2015, lactate esters registered the highest market share of
EDITOR’S NOTE: This Industry Report presents excerpts green and biobased solvents at 45%, followed by methyl
from a market study prepared by London-based Technavio. soyate solvents and alcohols. This is expected to continue
The full, 69-page report, Global Green and Bio Solvents until 2020. The consumption of lactate esters in cleaning
Market 2016–2020, can be ordered at http://www.technavio products, owing to their relatively low toxicity, is encouraged
.com/report/global-bio-chemicals-and-bio-materials-green- by many manufacturers, including ADM and other major
and-solvents-market. The information and views in this vendors. Methyl soyate solvents recorded the fastest growth
document are those of Technavio. They do not necessarily among other green and biobased solvents, owing to the high
represent the views of Industrial Biotechnology journal, demand and easy availability.
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers, or their affiliates. Fur- The unique properties of lactate esters, including high sol-
thermore, none of the above organizations or companies, nor vency rate, low price in comparison to other biobased solvents,
any persons acting on their behalf, is responsible for the and easy availability will increase the demand for lactate esters.
use that might be made of information contained in this Also, lactate esters are used to replace numerous toxic and con-
publication. ventional solvents consumed for several applications. Agencies
such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and

216 INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 DOI: 10.1089/ind.2016.29044.cbj

 SOLVENTS MARKET

10 8.66% Others
10%
8.55% 11.24%
8.13% 8.28% 8.36% 8.50%
8 8%
Adhesives
and sealants
6 6% 10.93%
Paints and
4 4% coatings
42.19%
2 2%
Cleaning products
6.52 7.06 7.65 8.30 9.01 9.79 15.42%
0 0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Revenue Growth rate Printing inks
20.02%
Fig. 1. Global green and biobased solvents market 2015–2020
($ billions). Source: Technavio. Fig. 3. Global green and biobased solvents market by application
(2020). Source: Technavio.

European Chemicals Agency have executed many regulations

supporting the use of green and biobased solvents. The Montreal coatings manufacturers, including powder coatings, high-solids,
Protocol is also likely to drive the growth of the market during and waterborne coatings, to shift toward solvents that contain
the forecast period. less toxins and low VOC content. We expect the share of this
industry to increase during the forecast period due to the im-
plementation of stringent restrictive coatings regulations that
Global Green and Biobased Solvents will come into effect in the US and the EU during the forecast
Market for Paints and Coatings period. In the US, there is a rise in the use of VOC-free solvents
In 2015, the paints and coatings segment was the largest that help lower atmospheric pollution.
consumer of green and biobased solvents, consuming 42.18%. Environmental and regulatory demands by governments
This can be attributed to the high consumption of green sol- around the world is also causing a shift in preference for paints
vents in different applications, such as automotive, architecture, and coating manufacturers. The challenges for these manu-
and pharmaceutical (Fig. 2). We expect this trend to continue facturers are to develop and manufacture paints and coatings
during the forecast period owing to the numerous advan- that comply with these regulations and deal with the increas-
tages and diverse application base of green and biobased sol- ing costs of raw materials. The furniture industry is the larg-
vents (Fig. 3). est consumer of paints and coatings. In addition, automotive
The market for green and biobased solvents in the paints coatings are used to paint automobiles as well as protect them
and coatings industry recorded revenue of $2.75 billion in 2015 from ultraviolet rays, rain, snow, corrosion, and chippings
and will likely reach $4.13 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR from stones.
of 8.47%. This growing consumption is being driven by in-
creased environmental awareness. This has forced paints and
Regional Overview
North America dominated the global market for green and
biobased solvents in 2015, accounting for a share of 37.12%.
Others The market in this region is driven by the Mexican and the US
11.81% markets. Asia Pacific will be the fastest growing regional market
Adhesives for green and biobased solvents, at an estimated CAGR of
and sealants 8.93% during the forecast period. A rise in spending among
10.89% consumers for construction in China and India, coupled with
Paints and growing industrialization, will spur the market growth in Asia
coatings
Pacific. Europe is a fairly mature market and is expected to reach
42.18%
saturation soon. This market is driven by the green initiatives
taken by the governments in this region.
Cleaning products
15.03%
The demand for green and biobased solvents in China is ex-
pected to increase at an average annual rate of 5–6% during the
Printing inks forecast period. Also, due to environmental regulations in the
20.09% US and the EU, the demand for green and biobased solvents is
expected to remain stable or increase from these geographies in
Fig. 2. Global green and biobased solvents market by application the near future. This limits the use of synthetic solvents and
(2015). Source: Technavio. encourages the use of green and biobased solvents.

ª M A R Y A N N L I E B E R T , I N C .  VOL. 12 NO. 4  AUGUST 2016 INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY 217

TECHNAVIO

NORTH AMERICA solvents in end-uses like cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, adhesives,

The market for green and biobased solvents in North America and paints and coatings have been seen.
was valued at $2.42 billion in 2015 and will likely reach $3.63
billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 8.45%.
The revival of the construction industry will result in a sig- Trends
nificant increase in the demand for biobased solvents in North AVAILABILITY OF BIOFUELS
America during the forecast period. In addition, the above-average The rise in the biobased economy is likely to produce some
growth of the customer-oriented markets such as cleaning prod- intermediate chemicals for the production of bioplastics. These
ucts, cosmetics, and toiletries will boost the need for green and molecules can be used to produce solvents similar to petro-
biobased solvents, especially butanediol derivatives, alcohols, chemical equivalents. High volumes of biofuels have generated
and lactate esters. The growth of the market for green and bio- huge opportunities for biobased solvents such as ethanol and its
based solvents in North America is due to a rise in govern- derivatives, or vegetable oil products that include glycerol and
ment rules and regulations for the manufacture and use of these biodiesel. The conversion of these feedstocks into biobased
solvents. solvents depends on legal restrictions and market demand.
In North America, demand for green solvents is increasing However, many solvents used at present are acquired from
four times faster than that of conventional solvents due to the feasible chemical transformations of biomass at a laboratory,
growing awareness about the benefits of using green solvents in pilot plant, or established biorefinery processes.
cleaning products, cosmetics, and toiletries. The government
has mandated regulations to reduce the emission of VOCs, in- ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
creasing the demand for glycol solvents in coatings. The volatility of petroleum-based raw materials and the
Manufacturers are also using butanediol and its derivatives growing demand for sustainable products have led chemical
to reduce the VOC emissions. The construction industry is producers to shift from conventional solvents. Also, the major
increasingly opting for alcohols for green solvent applications to vendors in the global green and biobased solvents market are
comply with environmental regulations. coming up with technology to manufacture green and biobased
solvents with several benefits, including lower environmental
EUROPE pollution, conservation of resources, higher productivity, and
The market for green and biobased solvents in Europe was less energy consumption.
valued at $1.82 billion in 2015 and will likely reach $2.74 billion
by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 8.53%.
EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOY SOLVENTS
The green and biobased solvents market in Europe will grow
Growing awareness of the use of methyl soyate as a green
at a steady pace between 2015 and 2020. The market in Europe
and biobased solvent is increasing its use in different applica-
will continue to pursue its goal of reducing VOC emissions. A
tions. The demand for soy-based solvents increased consider-
shift toward water-based and other solvent-free paints is posi-
ably in 2015. BioSpan Technologies in 2006 developed a new
tively impacting the demand for green and biobased solvents for
variant of soy-based solvent, which helped in the replacement of
paints and coating applications in this region. The market for
conventional solvents like hydrocarbons and the commerciali-
green and biobased solvents is also affected by the growing
zation of soy solvents for new applications. The company de-
environmental awareness of end consumers. Changes aimed at
veloped a replacement for asphalt cement by blending biobased
reducing the environmental effects of conventional solvents will
solvents such as methyl soyate and other newly created solvents.
focus on manufacturing methods and hence, encourage the use
The development of methyl soyate is creating huge growth
of alternatives such as green and biobased solvents.
opportunities in the market as it is safer than other conventional
The production of solvents from renewable resources reduces
solvents.
the dependence on petroleum-based solvents and directly con-
tributes to reductions in carbon emissions. Hence, the govern-
ments of different countries in this region are continuously Chandrakumar Badala Jaganathan is a lead analyst at Technavio for
focusing on encouraging the use of biobased solvents. The re- agrochemicals and fertilizers research. Phone: +44 208 123 1770. E-mail:
placement of conventional solvents by new, advanced green [email protected].

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