| Water Based Solvents in a Pharmaceutical Industry | United States | Published in 1985 | Full scale |
MANUFACTURE OF CHEMICALS AND CHEMICAL PRODUCTS # 53
Background
This case study illustrates use of water based solvents replacing organic solvent in a pharmaceutical industry.
Cleaner Production Principle
Material substitution
Cleaner Production Application
Riker Laboratories coated medicine tablets using several organic solvents as carriers. A water-based solvent was developed to replace the organic solvent and different spray application equipment was installed to handle the new solvents. These changes eliminated organic solvent losses to the atmosphere.
| Feedstocks | Organic solvents |
| Wastes | Spent solvents |
| Medium | Solvents |
Environmental and Economic Benefits
| Feedstock reduction | $15,000 in solvent costs |
| Waste reduction | 24 tons/year reduction in air pollution |
| Impact | Eliminates solvent evaporation to the atmosphere. |
| Months to recover | Less than 12 |
Constraints
None reported.
Contacts
"Proven Profit from Pollution Prevention," D. Huisingh, L. Martin, H. Hilger, N. Seldman, The Institute for Self-Reliance 2425 18th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., 1985, case study 14, Page 65.
Review Status
This case study was originally abstracted for the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse. It underwent a UNEP IE funded technical review in 1994 for quality and completeness. It was edited for the ICPIC diskette by UNEP IE in July 1995.
Subsequently the case study has undergone another technical review by Dr Prasad Modak at Environmental Management Centre, Mumbai, India, in September 1998.