Hanna Karlsson, Lignin Technology at Valmet

Hanna Karlsson is Business Development Manager – Lignin Technology at Valmet, where she focuses on advancing the commercial production and use of lignin and supporting customers in unlocking the value of this underutilized raw material. She holds a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology and has been working with lignin since 2008, when Valmet acquired the LignoBoost technology. 

Over the years, she has held several key roles within Valmet’s lignin operations. She was the lead process engineer for the design and start-up of the second commercial LignoBoost plant at the Stora Enso Sunila mill in Finland, and later served as LignoBoost Technology Manager, heading the team responsible for process design, equipment selection, and R&D related to lignin extraction and refining.

What would you like to contribute to the conference?

– I want to give a practical, industry‑based view on what it takes to bring lignin to commercial scale, with a focus on how technology, operations and market needs need to be aligned to open up multiple value‑creating applications.