UPM Biofore Magazine 1-2019

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Mother nature’s complex gift “Mother Nature has designed this material—its structure and the way it reacts—in a very complex way,” says Christian Hübsch , Director, Lignin Business, at UPMBiochemicals. According to Hübsch, UPM’s world-class lignin expertise and pioneer status are based on three key success factors: a dedicated and highly engaged team, a network of partners inside and outside of UPM, and the ongoing, long-term commitment and support within UPM. “We realised at an early stage that it will be critical to do this in collaboration with partners. We started to build partnerships and networks with technology companies, suppliers, and customers. This has boosted the development significantly. Openness is the key ingredient for success.” The core of UPM’s lignin expertise lies in the capability to provide customer-specific solutions for a variety of lignin applications. The same solution or quality does not work for all applications. “We don’t just sell a powder, but also the knowledge about how it can be used. We collaborate a lot with our customers, so they can master the product quickly and easily,” says Suvi Pietarinen , Lignin Business Development Manager at UPM Biochemicals. “With our knowhow in lignin chemistry and quality management, we can ensure that our products are exactly suited for the end-use applications of our customers, whether it is a plywood resin or another application. We offer UPM BioPiva™ lignin products together with a customised technical solution

SANNA VALKONEN (left) and SUVI PIETARINEN are enthusiastic advocates of lignin technology.

and support our customers all the way from introduction to industrial implementation,” explains Sanna Valkonen , Senior Manager of Technical Sales and Business Development, Lignin Business at UPMBiochemicals. UPMBioPiva™ lignin and the resin technology related to its use are supplied to many of the biggest resin producers worldwide, for example to Prefere Resins in Europe, one of the frontrunners for lignin-based plywood-adhesives. Prefere Resins’ Vice President of Technology, Dr. Michael Schwab , has been involved in lignin research for approximately 20 years. “I’ve witnessed many attempts to commercialise lignin. Now it’s finally happening on a larger scale. We at Prefere value our collaboration with UPMBiochemicals, because the role of lignin in resins will inevitably grow, especially in building and construction. Our role in the value chain is to bring the components The commercialisation of lignin is not easy

of the resins together and create the end product itself, e.g. for UPM Plywood, combining our-long- standing experience as the leading producer in phenolic resins with UPM’s technology and know-how,” Schwab explains. Good collaboration has been crucial for the development of the production process. “From a chemical point of view, this works in much the same way as with phenol. The lignin structure must be well integrated into the binder system. This is an extremely difficult exercise – it’s not just about replacing one substance with another. The larger the amount of phenol we attempt to replace with lignin, the more difficult it gets,” emphasises Schwab. “But it really works. The performance of UPMBioPiva™ lignin in products such as plywood is really at the same level as with pure petro- based solutions. At the moment, the biggest potential lies in construction and wood-related applications,” he adds. How, then, did lignin-phenolic resins become so good?

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