The SOLRESS project officially kicked off on 10–11 September 2025 in Valencia, Spain, marking a significant step toward safer, high-performance bio-based solvents for European industry. The project is funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) with a €7 million contribution within a €9.1 million total budget. Running for 48 months, SOLRESS is coordinated by AIMPLAS.

SOLRESS will develop an integrated biorefinery concept to produce five key industrial solvents—ethyl acetate, ethyl lactate, butyl acetate, 2-MeTHF, and GVL—from second-generation biomass residues, including post-consumer coffee grounds and lignocellulosic feedstocks. Designed to meet industrial purity requirements, these solvents will be validated in application environments such as paints and coatings, cosmetics, and industrial material processing.

The project pursues three main goals:

• Replace fossil-based raw materials with sustainable bio-based feedstocks for widely used solvents

• Deliver Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) alternatives to solvents linked to higher hazard and toxicity

• Strengthen competitiveness and sustainability across the value chain

SOLRESS brings together 17 partners spanning industry, research and innovation: AIMPLAS, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, Bioeconomy for Change, Stora Enso, Kaffe Bueno, Solmeyea, Ghent University, HydroHM, Agricultural University of Athens, Kansai Altan, TFC, Perseo Biotechnology, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, CSIC, Dermopartners, Celignis, and Galactic.

This project has received funding from the CBE JU under grant agreement No. 101214605, supported by the EU Horizon Europe programme and the Bio-Based Industries Consortium.

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