Lignin Industries at the Marcus Wallenberg Prize Symposium

Christopher Carrick was invited to the MWP Symposium.

Digging out the potential of lignin

For the first time, the 2024 Marcus Wallenberg Prize rewarded research on lignin. This reflects the increased interest in this fascinating material, considered one of the most underutilized natural resources on Earth.

Lignin Industries’ founder Christopher Carrick was invited to the MWP Symposium, where innovations related to the growing use of lignin was in focus. 

Christopher shared the history of his innovation - the foundation of Lignin Industries today – and talked about “Lignin: Next generation of renewables in plastics used in PE, PP and ABS applications”. Listen to his speech here.

Professor John Ralph på besök hos oss i Knivsta

Pioneering research for advanced understanding of lignin

The 2024 Marcus Wallenberg Prize was awarded to Professors Wout Boerjan and John Ralph for their groundbreaking research leading to a fuller understanding of lignin biosynthesis and structural diversity – fundamentally needed for the development of new applications for lignin. King Carl XVI Gustaf presented the prize on Monday 11 November 2024 in Stockholm. The Prize sum was 2.5 MSEK.

The purpose of the Prize is according to the MWP to “recognize, encourage and stimulate pathbreaking scientific achievements which contribute significantly to broadening knowledge and to technical development within the fields of importance to forestry and forest industries”.   

Site visit by one of the laureates

In connection to the Symposium, Lignin Industries were happy to welcome one of the laureates, Professor John Ralph, to the Knivsta production site. We spent a couple of hours together to discover and explore how Lignin Industries’ patented technology works and how it can be used to transform lignin into bio-based thermoplastics, resulting in lower carbon emissions, vital for the plastics industry.