On October 15, 2026, the Finnish sustainable materials company UPM held a commissioning ceremony in Leuna, Germany, to mark the official launch of its world-scale lignocellulosic biorefinery. The facility has an annual production capacity of 220,000 tonnes and represents a total investment of approximately €1.37 billion.
This project is the world's first industrial-scale biorefinery capable of producing bulk bio-based chemicals directly from non-food lignocellulosic biomass, such as forestry residues. The raw materials-beechwood thinnings and sawmill residues-are sourced from sustainably managed forests within a 200-kilometer radius of the site. These materials are unsuitable for high-end wood products like furniture or construction timber and do not compete with food resources. The project has secured ISCC PLUS, PEFC, and FSC sustainability certifications, ensuring full traceability of its raw material supply chain.
The facility utilizes an enzymatic hydrolysis process to break down wood components, yielding four main categories of bio-based products: industrial sugars, bio-monoethylene glycol (BioMEG), bio-monopropylene glycol (BioMPG), and lignin-based renewable functional fillers (RFF).
Commercial deliveries of industrial sugars began in the fourth quarter of 2025. The enzymatic hydrolysis and lignin-based specialty chemical production units are now operating stably, with sales volumes steadily increasing. BioMEG can be used in PET packaging and polyester fibers; BioMPG has applications in cosmetics and de-icing fluids; and the lignin-based fillers can serve as alternatives to carbon black or silica in tires, rubber, and plastic products. All these offerings serve as direct replacements for fossil-based raw materials and are compatible with existing industrial production systems.
The investment was officially announced in January 2020, with trial runs of the facility commencing in late 2024. UPM CEO Massimo Reynaudo stated that the Leuna biorefinery represents a landmark investment in the company's transformation, noting that these high-performance renewable chemicals will open up entirely new markets. The plant is expected to reach full production capacity and achieve a positive EBIT by 2027; it will serve as a key demonstration for the European bio-chemical industry, driving the sector's transition from fossil-based feedstocks to renewable, wood-based raw materials.
