Carbon removal buyer coalition Frontier announced that it has facilitated $80 million in offtake agreements on behalf of buyers including Google, H&M, Stripe and Salesforce, among others, for the removal of nearly 300,000 tons of CO2 through technologies that integrate carbon removal into existing industrial processes.

The offtake agreements were signed with CO280, a developer of Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) projects at pulp and paper facilities, and CREW Carbon, which removes CO2 from the wastewater treatment process.

Launched in April 2022 with commitments by tech companies Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify and Meta and global management consulting firm McKinsey, Frontier is an advance market commitment to buy permanent carbon removal, aimed at accelerating the development of carbon removal technologies with guarantees of future demand. In addition to setting a demand pool for carbon removal, Frontier also vets suppliers, with a focus on solutions with the potential to achieve high volume and low cost.

Under the new agreements, Frontier buyers will pay CO280 $48.0 million to remove 224,500 tons of CO2 between 2028 and 2030, and CREW $32.1 million to remove 71,878 tons of CO2 between 2025 and 2030, Together, Frontier said, the pulp and paper and wastewater treatment sectors alone could potentially remove over 1 billion tons of CO2 each year, with the two approaches offering a model for how startups can partner with large industrial players to deliver carbon removal at scale.

Hannah Bebbington, Head of Deployment, Frontier said:

“Carbon removal isn’t just about developing entirely new technologies from the lab, but also building on existing industrial expertise and infrastructure. CO280 and CREW show how we can flip the switch on carbon removal in industrial processes, enabling big scale, fast.”

Vancouver-based CO280 develops biomass carbon removal and storage projects in the pulp and paper industry, including financing, developing, owning and operating large-scale Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) projects in partnership with pulp and paper companies, with more than 10 million tons per year of permanent CDR under development. According to the CO280, North America’s pulp and paper industry represents a carbon removal opportunity of up to 130 million tons per year, with the average mill having a CO2 emissions profile that is 80% biogenic.

Jonathan Rhone, CEO of CO280 said:

“Frontier’s extraordinary leadership and commitment to scaling up permanent, affordable carbon removals will enable CO280 to achieve network scale and impact. We are grateful to the entire Frontier team and Frontier members for their catalytic role in the carbon removal market and for their collaborative approach to partnering on these projects.”

CREW Carbon, based in Hamden, Connecticut, works with wastewater treatment plants to integrate carbon removal into existing treatment processes. CREW Carbon adds alkaline minerals to wastewater treatment plants, converting CO2 into bicarbonate which is then stored in the ocean.

Dr. Joachim Katchinoff, Co-Founder & CEO, CREW, said:

“Securing this offtake with Frontier buyers enables CREW to accelerate the integration of carbon removal into existing wastewater infrastructure at a significantly faster pace and scale. This agreement not only allows us to expand our existing CO2 removal projects but also benefits the wastewater sector by enabling safer and efficient wastewater treatment.”

The new deal with CO280 and CREW facilitates purchases by Stripe, Google, Shopify, McKinsey Sustainability, Autodesk, H&M Group, Workday, and Salesforce. Additionally, through a partnership between Frontier and climate solutions platform Watershed, companies including Aledade, Canva, Match Group, Samsara, SKIMS, Skyscanner, Wise, and Zendesk will also participate in the purchases.