174 



AARC 



Alternative Agricultural Research & Commercialization Center 



Windshield Washer Solvent 

 Turns 'Green' 



Even a product as basic and simple to 

 produce as windshield washer solvent 

 can be transformed in ways that offer 

 spin-off benefits ranging from protecting 

 human health to improvmg the environment 

 and the U.S. economy. 



Aquinas Technologies in St. Louis, 

 Missouri, already has changed the washer 

 solvent business by creating a new distribu- 

 tion network. The selling point is that 

 Aquinas packages its traditional methanol 

 solvent in bottles made from recycled plastic 

 and filled by Goodwill Industries, a national 

 not-for-profit organization providing jobs for 

 workers with disabilities. 



Now Aquinas is taking a further step to 

 generate both economic and environmental 

 benefits. Working with the farmer- funded 

 National Corn Growers Association (NCG.A) , 

 Aquinas plans to begin national distribution 

 of washer fluid containing non-toxic ethanol 

 made from corn grown in the U.S. The new 

 product will replace methanol-based solvents 

 that can cause blindness if swallowed-- or can 

 even prove fatal. Methanol is made from 

 petroleum, 50 percent of which is imported. 

 Meeting the nation's !20-million-gallon 

 annual demand for windshield washer 

 solvent would require 24 million bushels 

 of corn. 



The Aquinas plan is being supported by 

 the new Alternative Agricultural Research and 

 Commercialization (AARC) Center, a branch 

 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As part 

 of its 1993 round of repayable awards to 

 promising new ventures, the A.\RC Center will 

 provide 5400,000 to the NCGA to help launch 

 production of the ethanol-based solvent and to 

 market the new product. Once sales generate 

 revenue, Aquinas will repay the public funds. 



The consortium of Aquinas, the NCG.^ and Goodwill Industries will invest 5945,000 in the new ven- 

 ture. Rapid consumer acceptance is expected, based on the fact that Aquinas is well-established in the 

 windshield washer solvent market toda) with its current methanol product. 



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USDA-AARC CENTER • 12th & C St. S.W. • Washington, DC 20250 

 Telephone: (202) 401-4860 • Fax: (202) 401-6068 



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