Solvent-free lignin recovered by thermal-enzymatic treatment using fixed-bed reactor technology – Economic assessment

•Production costs for low odor, sulfur-free AS Lignin are determined to be 395 €/t.•AS lignin production can be competitive to other technical lignin’s.•Lignin production costs are mostly influenced by the pretreatment water demand.•Influence of the C5 sugar recovery on the lignin production costs is negligible.•Conducting the enzymatic hydrolysis in the fixed-bed is not economically viable.