Carbon removal is expanding into new territory — literally. Bolivian packaging and recycling company Empacar S.A. is partnering with Puro.earth, Cula, and Bioflux to build a biochar production facility in the Ascención de Guarayos region of Bolivia.
Once operational, the facility expects to capture approximately 70,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually, with first carbon removal credits targeted for 2027.
From Sawmill Waste to Permanent Carbon Storage
The facility will use wood waste from local sawmills — operations regulated by Bolivia’s forestry authority, the Autoridad de Fiscalización y Control Social de Bosques y Tierra (ABT). Converting this waste into biochar locks carbon into a stable solid form that persists in soil for centuries, rather than letting the wood decompose and release its carbon back into the atmosphere.
Each partner brings a different piece of the puzzle:
- Empacar provides local operational expertise — the company has nearly five decades of recycling and circular economy experience in Bolivia
- Puro.earth brings its crediting platform and certification standards for engineered carbon removal
- Cula handles digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV)
- Bioflux acts as biochar project consultant
The credits will be certified under the Puro standard and issued through the Puro Registry after passing all necessary audits.
CDR Meets Latin America’s Circular Economy
What makes this project interesting isn’t just the scale — 70,000 tonnes/year would make it one of the larger biochar facilities globally. It’s the model.
Empacar launched a new business unit called CarbonX at the Bolivia Carbon Forum, positioning it as a platform for “transforming environmental challenges into climate assets.” CEO Carlos Limpias framed it in terms of both climate impact and local economic opportunity: the facility will create jobs in rural communities while converting what was previously waste into a globally traded commodity.
“Through CarbonX, we are transforming industrial biomass residues into permanent carbon removal while creating economic opportunities for rural communities,” Limpias said in the announcement.
Why This Matters
Most CDR activity is concentrated in North America and Europe. Projects like this in Bolivia signal that the industry is beginning to reach new geographies — places where feedstock is abundant, labor costs are lower, and existing industrial operations can be converted to serve the carbon removal market.
Latin America has enormous potential for biochar CDR. Agricultural and forestry residues are plentiful across the continent. If the economics work in Bolivia — a country not exactly known for its carbon market infrastructure — they’ll work in a lot of other places too.
Puro.earth’s Jan Willem Bode put it plainly: “Scaling this industry requires more than technology — it requires trusted standards, transparent data and credible certification, and strong entrepreneurial companies willing to participate in this market.”
The question now is whether 2027 delivery holds. Biochar projects tend to have shorter development timelines than DAC or BECCS, but first-of-kind facilities in new markets always carry execution risk. If Empacar delivers, expect more Latin American biochar to follow.