Lignin, a natural polymer found in wood, is being transformed into a renewable resource to replace bitumen, resins, and adhesives derived from fossil fuels.
From wood to industry
Lignin, a natural polymer found in wood, is emerging as a resource capable of replacing fossil-based substances in construction and manufacturing. From Estonia, one of Europe’s most forest-rich countries, a new approach is underway to use lignin in the production of bitumen and adhesives. Since 2018, with support from the European Union, Estonian biotech company Fibenol has partnered with organizations from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Latvia, and Sweden to unlock wood’s hidden potential. The goal is to reduce the carbon footprint of industries tied to these materials.
“Lignin can replace bitumen in asphalt mixtures,” said Peep Pitk, Head of Development at Fibenol, “and it can also substitute phenol in resins used to bond veneers in wood panels, while sugars can serve as binders in insulating products.” The possible applications are wide-ranging and still being explored.
This international collaboration, known as Sweetwoods, is part of a broader €2 billion initiative backed by the EU and industry to build a circular, bio-based economy where nothing goes to waste. Once again, nature offers the solution.
The glue of nature
Lignin is a natural polymer that acts as the glue in plants, giving them rigidity and strength. The Sweetwoods project transforms it into a valuable resource for applications ranging from building materials and packaging to food, cosmetics, and even pharmaceuticals. The objective is to accelerate Europe’s shift toward a circular, bio-based economy. This strategy, part of the Clean Industrial Deal, is not only about sustainability but also about scaling up innovative technologies like those being tested in Estonia and turning them into mainstream industrial solutions.
Lignin: from waste to resource
With EU support, Fibenol has built a flagship biorefinery in Imavere, Estonia, designed to harness the potential of lignin and powered entirely by renewable energy. The plant ramped up production in 2024 and now delivers high-purity lignin and wood sugars that are already replacing toxic petrochemical products in multiple industries.
The process uses low-quality wood from sustainably managed forests or wood waste from the plywood industry, materials traditionally burned for energy. “After exploring the global market for two or three years, we decided to adopt a new technology to extract lignin and sugars with minimal chemicals,” Pitk explained. “Our goal was to scale it up, commercialize it, and eventually license this technology worldwide.”
Replacing fossil-based resins
Another project, called VIOBOND, is taking shape at a bio-based resin plant under construction in Riga, Latvia, with testing scheduled to begin in summer 2026. The company behind it is the EU’s largest birch plywood producer, which for decades has relied on phenol-formaldehyde resins derived from fossil resources. These materials are critical in applications where strength and durability are non-negotiable, such as truck flooring or tank linings for liquefied gas.
At present, producing sustainable resins on an industrial scale still requires a small percentage of fossil-based components. VIOBOND’s target is to replace 70% of phenol and formaldehyde with lignin in the resins used at its plywood plants. Once perfected, this will enable manufacturers across Europe to produce more sustainable resins for a wide range of applications, from plywood to sandpaper to insulation wool. As demand grows, the cost of lignin is expected to fall, making it an increasingly competitive solution.
