The new UPM biorefinery in Leuna – driving decarbonisation with wood-based materials

Project Description

​​​​​In 2020, UPM started building world’s first industry scale biorefinery for wood to chemicals in Leuna, Germany. UPM Leuna will produce a range of 100% wood-based biochemicals that enable a switch from fossil-based products to sustainable alternatives in number of end-uses such as plastics, textiles, cosmetics and industrial applications. Raw materials and other services for the biorefinery are sourced in the region, which enables local value creation and ensures compliance with high social and environmental standards.

Technology and process have been developed by UPM over the past ten years, mainly building on the company’s own innovation capabilities and selectively working with international partners such as the Coca-Cola Company. Now this will be complemented with partnerships that develop applications for using products from the biorefinery. For instance, HAERTOL, a leading engine and battery coolant manufacturer in Europe, will integrate the renewable monoethylene glycols BioPura™ produced by UPM into a new generation of sustainable coolants to support automotive’s net zero ambition and significantly reduce their scope 3 emissions by switching from fossil-based to a renewable ingredient.

Project Purpose

UPM is building the world’s first industry scale biorefinery in Leuna to convert sustainably sourced, certified woody biomass into next generation biochemicals. This will enable the vital shift away from fossil-based to renewable materials across a wide range of industries, including automotive. UPM wood-based biochemicals will significantly reduce the CO2 footprint of the end-use products.

Project Evaluation

The building of the UPM Leuna biorefinery started in 2020 and is due to be ready by end of 2023. UPM invests approximately 750 MEUR in the site. The biorefinery aims to produce 220,000 tonnes annually in total. The investment has been awarded The Bio Act of the Year 2020 by the World BioEconomy Forum.

MICHAEL DUETSCH, Vice President UPM Biochemicals

In the future beyond fossils, there will be only three sources of carbon: recycled materials, CO2 capture and biomass. Establishing a circular economy, reuse and recycling, is very important,” says Michael Duetsch, Vice President UPM Biochemicals. “But it is not enough – you will always have losses. We must compensate those losses with sustainable materials made from renewable carbon to create the perfect, circular economy. We must move quickly to this new way of doing business if we want to mitigate climate change. While UPM is using wood to produce renewable chemicals, the transformation of the chemical sector needs to go far beyond, building on the scale-up of sustainable solutions across the board – from new recycling approaches to the use of synthetic chemicals.

Main Features of the project:

CO2 Emissions saved (tCO2): Wood-based biochemicals reduce the scope 3 emissions of the customers significantly by switching from fossil-based to a renewable ingredient.

Investment: 750 MEUR

Partnerships:

The Coca-Cola Company, Changchun Meihe Science & Technology, HAERTOL and Dongsung Chemical of South Korea. Exclusive distribution agreements for RFF with Lehmann & Voss, Krahn Chemie, Azelis and Algol.