ForestBioFacts and TAPPI webinar: Who Says You Can't Make Money From Lignin?
– Commercialisation of Lignin as a Building Block for the Circular Economy
Join us on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at 4 pm EEST / 3 pm CET / 9 am EDT for a dynamic webinar featuring expert speakers who will share insights into current lignin trends, market opportunities, and case examples of recent innovations.
Register now or latest on May 20 to secure your spot!
Programme:
Potential of Lignin as Sustainable Coating Additive
Vesa Kukkamo, CEO, ACA Systems and Lari Vähäsalo, Co-Founder, R&D Director, CH-Bioforce
What’s New on Lignin Recovery – Andritz
Elina Lohiniva, Director, Business Development, Lignin, Andritz
Södra Becomes the World’s Largest Kraft Lignin Producer – How?
Viktor Odenbrink, Sales Director Bioproducts, Södra
Closing remarks from a U.S. research perspective
Chris Luettgen, Executive Director, Alliance for Pulp & Paper Technology Innovation; Professor of the Practice and Associate Director at Georgia Institute of Technology, TAPPI Fellow
This event is proudly organized in collaboration with ForestBioFacts and TAPPI. We look forward to seeing you there!
This webinar is open to everyone and there is no cost to attend, but registration is required.
Speakers
Lari Vähäsalo is a chemistry expert with specialties in wood and paper chemistry, biomass fractionation, analytical, organic and process chemistry. His widely published, industry funded research at the Åbo Akademi university both before and after his PhD has aimed at developing new analytical techniques for laboratories and on-line applications in the paper industry. In 2007, Mr. Vähäsalo was one of the driving forces in developing a hemicellulose extraction process, which later became the starting point of hemicellulose extraction and utilisation research in the Finnish Forest Cluster Future Biorefinery (Fubio) project. In 2011, he was part of developing a new hemicellulose extraction method, unrelated to the Fubio process. This method was further enhanced to include the extraction of lignin without sulphur and became the base for current BIOFORCENSE®-technology. To take the technology further, Mr. Vähäsalo co-founded AB BLN-Woods Ltd which is the second largest owner of CH-Bioforce Oy.
Vesa Kukkamo is the CEO of ACA Systems and a seasoned leader in the chemical and paper technology industries, with a career spanning several globally respected companies including CH Polymer, Omya, and BASF. He holds an Executive MBA from Bern University and an MBA from the Simon Business School. In addition to his corporate leadership, Vesa contributes to academic advancement as a Guest Professor at the Munich University of Applied Sciences, where he lectures on Applied Rheology in the Master of Paper Technology program. Vesa is also an active member of the TAPPI Coating Operational Committee, reflecting his commitment to industry innovation and collaboration. Outside of his professional life, he is a dedicated family man, married with three children.
Elina Lohiniva, ( M.Sc, Eng) is the Business Development Director, Lignin at Andritz Pulp &Paper. She has been working as the Business Development Director for the lignin business for the last 3,5 years, heading the lignin business in Andritz. Elina lives in Helsinki area in Finland.
Viktor Odenbrink is the Sales Director at Södra Bioproducts. He’s been with Södra for almost ten years in different roles and the last eight years have been commercial / business related. Within Södra’s lignin program, the primary focus is the market and activities related to that. Viktor lives in Växjö in Sweden with his wife and two children.