Microsoft signs deal for 27,600 tonnes carbon removal in recycled concrete

Microsoft signed a multi-year offtake agreement with carbon removal provider Neustark, which will deliver 27,600 tonnes of carbon removal credits over six years by storing biogenic CO2 in recycled construction materials. The deal advances Microsoft's carbon-negative-by-2030 goal and illustrates durable removal pathways relevant to Indian companies and construction firms exploring carbon storage.

Microsoft and carbon dioxide removal provider Neustark announced a multi-year offtake agreement under which Neustark will deliver 27,600 tonnes of carbon removal credits to Microsoft over six years, removing biogenic carbon from biogas plants for storage in recycled construction materials. Founded in 2019, Switzerland-based Neustark uses recycled materials such as concrete from demolished buildings as permanent storage for CO2 through a mineralisation process that binds captured biogenic carbon dioxide permanently to the pores and surface of the granules.

Construction-waste recyclers and biogas plants are affected, as captured CO2 from partnering biogas plants is dissolved and transported to recycling sites as an add-on to existing recycling processes. The carbonated granules can be used to build road and rail networks or produce recycled concrete. Neustark currently operates at 14 sites with combined capacity of over 5,000 tonnes of CO2 per year and aims to scale to capture one million tonnes of CO2 by 2030, making the construction-materials sector central to its removal model.

Companies pursuing durable carbon removal should monitor scaling of mineralisation-based storage in recycled concrete, which Neustark says has already removed more than 1,000 tonnes of CO2 to date. The deal forms part of Microsoft's initiative to become carbon-negative by 2030 and to remove all of its historical emissions by 2050. Construction firms and carbon-removal buyers should track Neustark's expansion from 14 sites toward its one-million-tonne 2030 target and the durability of concrete-based permanent storage.

Key figure — Carbon removal contracted: 27,600 tonnes over six years