Europe’s forest giants are lining up to secure supplies of sulphate lignin, which is key to producing the next generation of industrial products.
It comes as Stora Enso secured a purchase agreement with Södra overnight – now building the world’s largest kraft lignin factory at Mönsterås in Sweden – with supplies key for Stora to build on its decade-long investment into developing battery technology.
In May, Wood Central reported that batteries made from zinc and lignin could provide a low-cost, longer-lasting solution for countries with limited access to energy. New batteries offer a “super cheap and easily recyclable alternative to traditional batteries.”
Already, Stora Enso, through its Lignode technology, is investing heavily in replacing fossil-based anode materials in lithium and sodium-ion batteries with lignin (and cellulose), both potential game changers in creating renewable power that is also biodegradable.
“It’s exciting to collaborate with Södra on this important project,” said Juuso Konttinen, Stora Enso’s head of biomaterials growth. “The agreement secures an additional reliable source of sulfate lignin for our innovative products like Lignode, underscoring the growing importance of lignin in developing sustainable solutions across industries.”
“From 2027, Södra will play a crucial role in increasing sulfate lignin as a renewable and sustainable replacement for fossil-based materials,” according to Johannes Bogren, Södra’s head of bioproducts: “Stora Enso is a key customer, partner, and technology provider, positioning us at the centre of a value chain that can lead to climate-efficient solutions, particularly in the automotive and energy storage sectors.”
In June, Wood Central reported that Södra—which last year opened the world’s greenest cross-laminated timber plant in Värö—is investing US $190m (or SEK 2b) to establish the massive plant adjacent to the world’s first bioethanol plant, established in 2020.
According to Södra, “Kraft lignin (has the potential to) replace fossil materials in, among other things, glue, batteries, rubber, composites and form the basis for new biofuels and biostimulators.”
“The forest is being called on for many things as society seeks to replace fossil-based materials,” said Lotta Lyrå, President and CEO of Södra. “To succeed in that transition, sustainability and profitability need to go hand in hand, and Södra’s kraft lignin investment is a good example.”
Wood Central understands that Stora Enso is the second major company to secure a supply agreement with Södra’s new plant, days after UPM, which wants to use lignin in resins for plywood, MDF, and binders in insulation materials, secured a major agreement last week.
- To learn more about polymers and why the world’s largest forest companies are now turning to cellulose and lignin to build more and more products out of wood, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
