SPLENDOR Project Launches in Ghent to Unlock the Value of Lignin

The SPLENDOR project officially launched in Ghent on 9–10 September 2025, bringing together experts from across Europe to turn black liquor, a byproduct of the pulp and paper industry, into high-value bio-based chemicals. Backed by €7.3 million in funding from the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), the three-year initiative is coordinated by Ghent University and implemented by a consortium of 12 partners specialising in chemistry, engineering, sustainability assessment, and industrial innovation.

During the two-day meeting, partners outlined the project’s technological roadmap, which focuses on scaling an integrated one-step depolymerisation process already developed and owned by NOVA that can extract valuable aromatic compounds directly from lignin-rich black liquor. The project will also work toward demonstrating 250 L/h prototype operation in an industrial mill, achieving 99% recovery of bio-aromatic monomers, and ensuring seamless integration of SPLENDOR technology into existing pulp and paper infrastructures. These milestones aim to deliver a more efficient, catalyst-free, and industrially scalable solution for lignin valorisation.

By advancing new pathways to convert industrial side streams into renewable resources, SPLENDOR supports the objectives of the European Green Deal, the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, and CBE JU’s mission to build circular, sustainable value chains. Over the coming months, the consortium will begin experimental work, prototype development, and sustainability assessments with further technical updates and project highlights to be shared soon.