Paebbl, the startup turning CO2 into building materials, opens first demo plant

Paebbl has opened its first demo plant in Rotterdam as it looks to ramp up its carbon capture technology.  

When we visited Paebbl’s sprawling facility in June last year, it was a mishmash of prototype machines, batch samples, machinery, and equipment — some of it still in its packaging. Now, the site is purportedly the world’s biggest plant capable of continuously mineralising CO2.

Paebbl said the plant was completed in “record time” with the help of Dutch engineering companies Spie and Vicoma. The project also received an undisclosed financial investment from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).  

Andreas Saari, co-CEO and co-founder of Paebbl, said the milestone brings the Dutch-Nordic startup “one step closer” to bringing high-performance materials and climate impact together “on a scale that really matters.” 

Saari, the former CEO of Slush, co-founded Paebbl in 2021 alongside his former Northzone partner Marta Sjögren, early Klarna investor Jane Walerud, and Dutch scientist Pol Knops.      

How does Paebbl’s technology mineralise CO2?

Paebbl’s technology artificially accelerates the slow, natural process of carbon mineralisation.  

Paebbl feeds crushed olivine rock and CO2 captured from heavy industry into its machine, where it undergoes enhanced mineralisation. The CO2 turns into CO3 (carbon trioxide) and binds to the olivine. 

For every ton of CO2 captured, it produces about three tons of powder, the scientific name for which is “silicon-rich” magnesium carbonate. 

This powder feels like a soft, fine dust and is grey with a tinge of green from the olivine it’s made from. Around half of the emissions from cement are produced when limestone is heated to produce lime. Paebbl’s powder can replace lime and other additives in substances like wall filler, turning buildings into carbon sinks. 

Paebbl is one of an emerging cohort of carbon removal startups looking to capture CO2 and use it as a resource to make new, cleaner products. 

Known as carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS), this approach differs from the more established carbon capture and storage (CCS) championed by the oil and gas industry, where carbon is captured at source and buried underground. 

In October, Paebbl secured $25mn from the likes of Amazon and German cement industry giants Holcim and Goldbeck, bringing its total raised to $38mn, according to Dealroom data.

Paebbl aims to build a commercial-scale plant in 2027. While the company hasn’t yet disclosed the location of this facility, Marta previously told TNW that they will focus on setting up factories in areas with “high demand for end products (building material), nearby feedstock supply (CO2 and olivine rock)”, and access to renewable energy. In Europe, the Nordics, Spain, and Portugal stand out in this respect.  

Paebbl aims to bring 1 million tons of its product to the market by 2030. The startup plans to make money by selling the rock powder itself and through providing carbon removal credits to companies looking to offset their emissions.

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