Our History

For over 40 years Solvent Systems International has been helping our customers to clean teamcleaner, to use resources more efficiently, and to implement the latest innovations in pollution prevention technology that SAVE money. We help our customers to dispose and recycle of their chemical waste in the most environmentally-friendly way and offer chemical supply options that consider biobased chemicals that are sustainable, good for the environment, and manufactured in our Elk Grove Village IL Facility. We help our customers improve their bottom line while improving the environment.  We are a two time winner of the Illinois Pollution Prevention Award and a winner of a Chicago Design Innovation Award.

We are Leaders in Beneficial Reuse and Waste Minimization

SSI has deep expertise is finding beneficial reuse opportunities as well as recycling used products into useful ones. Our underlining philosophy is to help business improve operations by minimizing waste. We treat waste as a defect and by minimizing it product quality will increase and costs will decrease.

Award-Winning Innovation

We are honored to have received recognition for our technology innovations:

  • We received the Illinois Governors Pollution Reduction Award for our Grease Gator Aqueous Parts Washer System. The Grease Gator was recognized for the amount of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) emissions it has eliminated.
  • We received a Chicago Innovation Award for the Grease Gator's innovative technical design.
  • We were recognized by MIT's "Under the Radar" publication which highlights hot new innovations.
  • We received the Illinois Governors Pollution Reduction Award for our truck mounted Solvent Purification System.

Throughout our history SSI's focus has been clear. To develop innovative solutions that help business minimize pollution and maximize competitive advantage.

Latest Technologies Direct from the Lab

One of our best sources of new technologies come from the engineers at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center at the University of Illinois. This Center is researching and developing innovative pollution prevention technologies and SSI is helping to commercialize the most promising of these technologies. We identify the business applications where these new technologies can be the most useful and bring the innovation to those customers who can immediately benefit.

The bottom line is with SSI you will be sure to take advantage of the latest pollution prevention technologies. Technologies that will help your business and our environment. Technologies that will convey to your customers your commitment as a forward thinking business.

Customer Testimonials

The feedback we get from our customers is fantastic. Check out what our customers are saying about their experience with SSI on the testimonial page.

A Beneficial Reuse Project Highlight: Turning Metal Fines From a Waste to a Resource

Before the SSI Metal Fines Binder Process this waste stream of fine metal dust (shown above) from various industrial metal finishing processes had to be disposed in a landfill because it had no value as scrap metal. The dust is too fine and is lost in the scrap furnace.

After the SSI Metal Fines Binder Process this waste stream of fine metal dust can be turned into scrap metal. With the SSI patented binder material, the metal dust is able to be formed into iron blocks that are acceptable for scap metal in both price and material specifications, no longer too fine to melt. And the SSI process doesn't use heat, it compresses the material into a shape similar to a patio block. A block which will melt evenly when it is made into other products.

SSI licensed this process to a large steel producer and helped design and implement a production line.