15 Years of Kraft Lignin Experience Leads Industry Veteran to an Unconventional Conclusion

Veteran kraft lignin entrepreneur Dr. Wilton Mitchell shares unconventional wisdom from 15 years of manufacturing and commercialization—and explains why he believes prayer deserves a place in the innovation process.

NEW BERN, N.C. — After fifteen years spent manufacturing, commercializing and searching for profitable markets for kraft lignin, Dr. Wilton Mitchell has reached an unconventional conclusion about innovation: sometimes the answer does not come from the normal places. Mitchell believes that the most often overlooked discipline, the one that is missed more than anything else in innovation, is prayer.

Kraft lignin has been the subject of decades of research, thousands of potential applications and patents, and an old but familiar industry adage: “You can make anything from lignin but money.” Mitchell has spent much of his career demonstrating that the saying is often, but not always, true.

It’s no secret to those who know Mitchell that he has had a front-row seat to the industry's long, chaotic pursuit of profitable lignin production techniques and uses. While Mitchell carefully guards confidential market and customer information, he believes some of the more fundamental lessons he has learned should be shared. One of those lessons has little to do with chemistry

“I have watched incredibly intelligent people spend enormous amounts of time and money trying to solve problems surrounding lignin,” Mitchell said. “I have been one of them. But looking back over my career, I am convinced that we sometimes overlook what’s been hidden in plain sight: prayer.”

An Unusual Perspective on a Complex Material

Mitchell's connection to the forest-products industry began in his youth, following his father through the timberlands of eastern North Carolina while cruising standing timber that would eventually be harvested and shipped to pulp and paper mills. After his military service, Mitchell returned to the forest-products industry, armed with a degree in pulp and paper engineering from North Carolina State University. Later in his career, he was responsible for global commercial sales of kraft lignin at Domtar and was intimately involved in developing and commercializing the company's BioChoice lignin business. His education took an unusual turn in 2020 for someone whose professional life had been built around engineering, manufacturing, and the chemical industry. Mitchell returned to school at Liberty University’s John W. Rawlings School of Divinity, where he earned a master's degree in Christian Apologetics and later a doctorate in Biblical Studies. That combination—engineer, lignin businessman, and theologian —has understandably resulted in a unique viewpoint on innovation.

A Problem He Couldn't Solve

An example of how Mitchell experienced this intersection between the secular and the divine occurred in 2018. He points to this event as one of the moments that began changing the way he thought about problem-solving.

While traveling alone on a business trip, he was frustrated by the narrow margins generated by lignin sales. The Chinese market, where he had been particularly active, was unwilling to pay the prices Mitchell believed would yield acceptable returns. He had studied the problem exhaustively and could not find a satisfactory solution.

“I didn't know what else to do,” Mitchell recalled. “So I pulled over on the side of the road and prayed about it.”

Later that day, Mitchell says, an idea came to him involving lignin packaging and logistics. The change ultimately resulted in a significant reduction in costs. Was the timing simply coincidence?  “Maybe,” Mitchell said. “I sometimes joke that the good Lord was probably getting frustrated with me for taking so long to figure out a relatively simple solution on my own.”  But the experience stayed with him.

A more consequential experience occurred during the COVID era. In 2020, his corporate employer decided to discontinue lignin production. The decision threatened jobs, including Mitchell's, and appeared likely to end a manufacturing operation in which he had invested years of his professional life. Mitchell says he prayed persistently about the situation. Shortly afterward, an unexpected opportunity emerged to keep the lignin plant operational. Six years later, the plant remains in operation and, according to Mitchell, is the only operating commercial kraft lignin production facility in North America. Another coincidence?  “Perhaps,” Mitchell said. “I can't prove that prayer caused either outcome; I'm not trying to. What I can say is that when I look back over my experiences in this industry, I see a pattern that I can no longer comfortably ignore.”

Mitchell says his experiences have also made him more attentive to businesses and individuals of faith who are operating successfully in the lignin industry. He is careful not to claim that Christian-owned businesses are inherently more successful than others, or that prayer guarantees commercial success. It is, he asserts, an acknowledgment of the limitations of human knowledge and a willingness to ask for wisdom through prayer.

“For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.”
— Proverbs 2:6 (ESV)

That conviction influenced Mitchell's decision to pursue advanced Biblical studies at an age when many of his contemporaries were preparing for retirement.

Augustine, Science and the 'Two Books'

Mitchell's worldview has been heavily influenced by the work of Saint Augustine of Hippo and a sermon known as “The Doctrine of the Two Books.”  Scripture represents one book through which God reveals knowledge, while nature represents another source of knowledge. Because the same God is understood to be the creator of everything in nature and the inspiration for the Bible, the two books cannot conflict. Mitchell, as did Augustine, understands there must be a unity of truth between science and Scripture. For Mitchell, that concept has significant implications for innovation. Mitchell points to the lignin challenge.

Lignin is an extraordinarily complex natural polymer that provides trees with strength, rigidity and protection. Its three-dimensional aromatic structure varies by species and processing conditions, contributing to its usefulness but also to the difficulty scientists and engineers have encountered in their attempts to extract commercial value from it.

“The more I have learned about lignin, the more I have realized how much I don't know,” Mitchell said. “There are scientists who understand its chemistry at levels I never will. But even among the experts, there remains much to discover.”

Mitchell is convinced that knowledge of both books is required for our greatest challenges.

Has Corporate America Left Something Behind?

Mitchell's argument extends beyond lignin. He believes modern universities and workplaces have increasingly treated faith as something that belongs outside professional life. At the same time, he believes many professing Christians have willingly accepted that division, discussing faith at church on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, while rarely bringing it into their workplaces. Mitchell remembers a time when beginning a company luncheon with a blessing was normal and expected in the pulp and paper industry. But today, he says, it is increasingly uncommon.

His contention is not that scientists, engineers, papermakers, and chemists should replace experimentation with prayer; it's quite the opposite.

“Do the research. Run the experiments. Study the chemistry. Analyze the economics. Ask difficult questions,” Mitchell said. “But why would a person of faith do all of those things and then exclude prayer from the process?”

For Mitchell, that is the question the pulp industry, and perhaps the broader scientific and business communities, should be considering.

A Different Approach is Needed - Desperately

The pulp and paper industry continues to search for new, higher-value uses for materials in its supply chain as traditional markets face economic and structural pressures. Lignin, one of nature's most abundant polymers, has long been one of the industry's most intriguing and potentially financially rewarding opportunities. Traditional approaches in innovation, however, remain lacking. So what needs to happen?

Scientists should continue studying lignin chemistry. Engineers must continue developing processes. Entrepreneurs should continue searching for applications. But after fifteen years in the business watching both failures and successes, Mitchell is convinced that another resource deserves a place in the conversation. “We have proven that we can't solve all of the complex issues surrounding lignin on our own; we need help, and I am convinced that help comes through prayer.”

“God has given us two books: The Book of Scripture, most often referred to as the Bible, and The Book of Nature. We need to use both of these if we’re going to find the answers we are looking for.”

“We must seek wisdom and guidance through prayer.”

About Dr. Mitchell

Dr. Wilton Mitchell is a veteran of the forest-products and biomaterials industries with extensive experience in pulp and paper manufacturing, kraft lignin commercialization, global sales and market development. He previously held responsibility for global commercial sales of kraft lignin at Domtar and participated in developing the company's BioChoice lignin business. Mitchell is the owner of Pine Chemical Services LLC and KraftLignin.com. He holds a degree in pulp and paper engineering from North Carolina State University, a master's degree in Christian Apologetics, and a doctorate in Biblical Studies.

Media Contact:
Dalemitchell@kraftlignin.com
New Bern, North Carolina