UPM rolls out first commercial product at German biorefinery

Helsinki – UPM has started manufacturing the first commercial product at its Leuna biorefinery in Germany, marking a milestone in the start-up of what it calls Europe’s largest industrial-scale investment in biochemicals.

In a statement dated 19 Dec, UPM said the Leuna site had begun the production and commercialisation of industrial sugars derived from wood.

The development follows the successful start-up earlier this year of the hydrothermal processing of wood at industrial scale.

UPM said the biorefinery has now reached stable operation in the separation of lignin and sugars, a process step required to convert sugars into renewable glycols and lignin into renewable functional fillers.

The €1.2-billion facility is designed to produce bio-based chemicals from sustainably sourced hardwood with a nameplate capacity of 220 kilotonnes per annum of advanced biochemicals.

According to the company, glycols produced at Leuna are intended for use in applications such as PET packaging, polyester textiles and cosmetics.

Lignin-based functional fillers are positioned as renewable alternatives to carbon black and silica in rubber and plastics applications. (ERJ report)

UPM said it expects to introduce additional commercial products from the Leuna biorefinery during the first half of 2026, as the ramp-up phase continues.