Background

CarbonX is an industrial-scale biocharBiochar is a carbon-rich material created from biomass decomposition in low-oxygen conditions. It has important applications in environmental remediation, soil improvement, agriculture, carbon sequestration, energy storage, and sustainable materials, promoting efficiency and reducing waste in various contexts while addressing climate change challenges. More carbon removal project based in Ascensión de Guarayos, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, co-developed by BioFlux in partnership with Empacar S.A., a Bolivian company that brings 47 years of industrial and circular economy experience to the collaboration.  As the first packaging recycling company certified by The Coca-Cola Company to use recycled materials in its packaging in South America—and the fifth globally—Empacar operates a comprehensive, multi-divisional infrastructure—covering PET, corrugated cardboard, and plastic injection and thermoforming—backed by a robust national logistics network. This deep-rooted expertise in transforming waste into high-value resources provides the industrial capacity and operational reliability needed to scale high-integrity carbon removal across the region.

BioFlux’s role has covered feasibility, design, certification, and sales. The project is being certified through Puro.Earth, with BioFlux managing the lifecycle assessment and greenhouse gas accounting process to ensure it meets the highest standards of carbon market integrity.  The feedstockFeedstock refers to the raw organic material used to produce biochar. This can include a wide range of materials, such as wood chips, agricultural residues, and animal manure. More consists of forest residues from operations subject to oversight by the ABT, which is Bolivia’s authority for forest and land supervision. At full capacity, the plant will process around 100,000 tonnes of biomassBiomass is a complex biological organic or non-organic solid product derived from living or recently living organism and available naturally. Various types of wastes such as animal manure, waste paper, sludge and many industrial wastes are also treated as biomass because like natural biomass these More residues annually, producing approximately 28,800 tonnes of biochar and enabling the removal of around 70,000 tonnes of CO2e per year.

Operations are aligned with Puro.earth’s crediting platform for engineered carbon dioxide removal and Cula’s digital monitoring and MRV platform to help scale biochar production. The projects will be certified under the Puro standard, and the generated biochar carbon removal credits will be issued into the Puro Registry after all necessary audits and verification are completed. 

Built on strong fundamentals

The facility sits in the middle of over 40 sawmills in Guarayos, meaning feedstock logistics are simpler than projects that need to transport biomass 30-50km. 

Grassroots stakeholder engagement 

Empacar’s grassroots philosophy has been crucial for securing community support and goodwill, as well as ensuring feedstock availability.  A larger stakeholder consultation in January-February 2026 involved representatives from different sawmills, where questions were asked to understand the main challenges facing them.  Engaging with key community stakeholders, primarily Indigenous Bolivians, enabled clear communication of the ambitions and value of CarbonX for local communities. This also enabled the effective leveraging of all departments of the Empacar group to solve the issues raised. 

Community impact

The primary near-term community benefit is the elimination of open burning, which causes record levels of respiratory illness in the Santa Cruz department. PM2.5 levels are frequently recorded, and smog is visible 350-400km away in the city of Santa Cruz.

There is also a more immediate benefit that tends to get overlooked in carbon market discussions, which is that forest residues currently lacking a managed outlet are frequently burned in the open, contributing to particulate pollution and respiratory health impacts in surrounding communities that industrial processing would eliminate entirely. For context, in 2024-2025, health services recorded over 6,326 cases related to smoke inhalation and fire emergencies.  In addition, hospital data show spikes in asthma and bronchitis during burning seasons, making the health impact of CarbonX an urgent necessity. 

Biochar application, through increased water retention, nutrient availability, and microbial activity, will help address the issue of soil degradation and low fertility in the Santa Cruz department.  This will significantly support the livelihoods of farmers working on land that is increasingly difficult to farm productively. Community benefit was intentionally built into the project from the feasibility stage, and BioFlux is working to establish biochar as a physical agricultural input in the local market, developing partnerships with fertiliser companies and advancing application pathways that go well beyond carbon credit sales alone.

Biochar application 

For biochar application, several pathways are being explored, including use in soya fields to reduce synthetic fertiliser use, livestock bedding mixed with manure for reapplication to cereal fields, donation-based programs for local communities, and reintroduction of biochar into forestry concessions near seed trees to support regeneration. Making compost on-site is another application being explored. 

A replicable model for Latin America

CarbonX is designed to be the first of many biochar carbon removal projects across the continent.  Through the co-development of CarbonX, BioFlux has built deep technical knowledge of the feedstock ecosystem logistics, wood densities, conversion rates, and feedstock sustainability documentation requirements that are specific to Latin American forestry contexts.

These learnings, from optimising truck loading efficiency to providng chain of custody for regulated feedstock in a high deforestation country, form the foundation for replicating this model across the region. The aim of CarbonX is to make Bolivia a genuine leader in biochar carbon removal and ultimately scale across Latin America.