Mercer International inaugurated the Mercer Lignin Center, which is located on the site of Mercer’s Rosenthal pulp mill in Germany.
“Our focus is on the full utilization of wood resources,” said Juan Carlos Bueno, CEO of Mercer International. “It is therefore only logical to exploit the often untapped potential of lignin.”
Mercer Rosenthal produces kraft pulp and has an annual production capacity is 360,000 ADMTs. In addition, the mill operates the largest solid biomass-based power plant in Thuringia (a state of central Germany), with a thermal capacity of more than 400 megawatts and an electrical capacity of 57 megawatts. An important biobased by-product of mill’s pulp production is tall oil, which replaces fossil products in the chemical industry. Lignin joins the mill’s existing portfolio of bioproducts.