LIGNOFUN

LIGNOFUN brings together 18 partners from across Europe – including leading research institutes, small and medium-sized enterprises, and major industrial players – to transform kraft lignin and black liquor, two abundant by-products of the pulp and paper industry, into high-performance, sustainable functional products.

The project aims to convert these underutilised streams into valuable aromatic compounds that are currently sourced from fossil-based materials by leveraging two cutting-edge lignin depolymerisation technologies. These bio-based ingredients will serve as essential building blocks for various applications, including foams, coatings, adhesives, wood panels, composites, personal care products, rubber antioxidants and nylon.

The project aims to demonstrate that not only can lignin-based materials match, but even outperform, fossil-based alternatives, while being better for the environment and reducing our dependence on finite resources. However, it’s not just about technology. LIGNOFUN also considers economic viability, societal benefits and regulatory aspects to ensure that the solutions are sustainable, safe and ready for large-scale deployment.

From side streams to value – LIGNOFUN’s mission for a greener industry

LIGNOFUN aims to utilise kraft lignin and black liquor, two underutilised by-products of the pulp and paper industry that are currently mostly burned for energy. By converting these by-products into sustainable, high-performance materials, we can replace substances derived from fossil fuels and contribute to a more circular, bio-based economy in Europe.

To achieve this, the project has three clear objectives combining innovation, sustainability and industrial benefit throughout the entire lignin valorisation process:

1. Scalable Lignin Utilisation: Develop smart and cost-effective methods to extract and refine lignin into pure, aromatic building blocks.
2. New bio-based products: Create and test prototypes of products such as foams, adhesives, coatings, composites, nylon, wood panels and cosmetics, and prove that they perform at least as well as today's fossil-based alternatives.
3. Sustainability all the way: Evaluate the environmental, economic, and social impacts of lignin-based products, to ensure they are both competitive and fit for a future free from fossil dependency.

RISE’s role and mission

As coordinator of the LIGNOFUN project, RISE plays a central role in achieving the project's ambition of transforming kraft lignin and black liquor into sustainable, high-value functional products. With a mission to promote industrial innovation and the bioeconomy, RISE is responsible for the project's strategic and technical leadership, ensuring scientific excellence, effective collaboration and alignment with the EU’s climate and circularity goals.

RISE contributes a wide range of expertise and is responsible for several key areas within the project

1. Project management: RISE oversees the project as a whole, coordinating collaboration between partners, managing dialogue with the EU and ensuring smooth day-to-day operations.
2. Smart Data Management: RISE is developing a data management strategy to ensure that knowledge is shared securely and openly in line with FAIR principles.
3. Lignin processing: A crucial task is refining lignin-based compounds to prepare them for use in subsequent processes. RISE purifies lignin-derived monoaromatics (LDMAs) by removing acids and salts to prepare them for microbial conversion in subsequent processes.
4. Microorganism and Fermentation Development: RISE develops and optimizes bacterial strains that convert lignin compounds into valuable building blocks – both in laboratory settings and at larger scales.
5. Green Chemical Conversion: Once the microbial processes have finished, RISE converts one of the main intermediate chemicals (ccMA) into adipic acid, which is a bio-based ingredient used in advanced plastics.
6. Economics and sustainability: RISE evaluates the economic viability and societal relevance of the developed value chains through techno-economic analysis (TEA) and social sustainability and business development (SSBD).

The RISE research environments make all this possible. Within Bioeconomy Arena in Örnsköldsvik, for example, RISE provides advanced infrastructure for fermentation and microbial development, as well as reactors designed with industrial safety in mind. In Södertälje, RISE contributes expertise in chemical catalysis. Together, these environments form a robust foundation for scientific advancement and sustainable innovation throughout the LIGNOFUN project.