Tanovis and Fibenol partner to advance commercial applications of lignin
Estonian cleantech company Fibenol Imavere OÜ and Swiss-based Tanovis AG are joining forces to accelerate the commercial use of lignin, a renewable, fossil-free biomaterial with vast potential across industries.
The partnership will begin with animal feed applications through Phytaxis SA, a subsidiary of Tanovis AG, and expand into bio-based materials and chemicals.
Lignin has long been recognized for its potential as a sustainable, fossil-free biomaterial. However, its variability across types and different sources has limited its broader industrial use.
By combining Fibenol’s expertise in producing high-quality, consistent lignin with Tanovis’s experience in market development and application know-how, the partners aim to bring greater clarity and confidence to lignin’s use across new markets.
“This collaboration is about moving beyond potential and into practice,” said Peep Pitk, Chief Development Officer at Fibenol. “By working together, we can tackle the complexity around lignin and accelerate its role in driving defossilisation across value chains.”
“Working with Fibenol allows us to translate lignin’s scientific promise into market-ready solutions,” added Charles Walser, CEO of Tanovis. “Through Tanovis' various subsidiaries and our joint efforts, we aim to deliver tangible sustainability benefits for customers and industries seeking fossil-free alternatives.”
With this partnership, Fibenol and Tanovis demonstrate how collaboration across the value chain can turn lab-scale innovation into large-scale industrial impact, advancing the use of renewable materials and supporting the shift to a low-carbon, circular economy.
Tanovis is active in searching and implementing collaborative projects and strategic alliances with potential sources of raw materials for our technologies and also with potential users for our products.
Tanovis is also a partner in public-private projects adressing issues like replacing petrochemicals with bio-based materials in many applications.
Innosuisse - Swiss Innovation Agency Tanovis is currently Partner in two projects: - Project number 48274.1 IP-EE - Project title Lignin-based rigid insulation foam
The project includes the development of a new material technology and suitable process engineering for the production of high-performance lignin-based rigid foam insulation materials for use in building insulation.
-Project number 100.856.1 IP-EE - Project title Lignin-TPU: bio-based, thermoplastic polyurethanes Development of a novel, thermoplastic system with a high proportion of lignin and other bio-based components. One focus is on the development of process engineering solutions for the energy-efficient and environmentally friendly production of the system using reactive extrusion.
We actively engage with a wide range of stakeholders in the lignin market, including paper mills, bio-refineries, start-ups, research institutes, universities, and more. Lignin is rapidly gaining attention across various industries and markets as a resource with immense potential for sustainable applications. With our extensive experience across multiple facets of this emerging "new commodity," Tanovis is driving innovation and helping accelerate the transition to a circular economy. Below a selection of our cooperations:
