Luleå, Sweden, 14th of April 2026: MAX Burgers, one of Sweden's largest buyers of voluntary carbon credits since 2008, today announced a major shift in its climate strategy by purchasing local biochar carbon removal credits from the Swedish Hjelmsäter farm. According to the Rainbow Standard, the credits are validated for a minimum storage duration of 1,000 years.
“Having purchased 2 million tonnes of voluntary carbon credits for tropical reforestation since 2008, I am thrilled we finally found a world-leading project that directly benefits Swedish farmers and forest owners. Investing in these millennium-scale biochar credits helps us pioneer the next generation of highly durable carbon removal,” says Kaj Török, Chief Sustainability Officer at MAX Burgers.
MAX Burgers is purchasing a total of 1,200 tonnes of biochar credits from Hjelmsäter over three years. The company says the investment builds on its long-term climate action, including launching the world’s first climate-labelled menu in 2008 and receiving UN Global Climate Action Award in 2019.
Biochar is produced by heating FSC-certified forestry residues, such as branches and roots, in a low-oxygen process (pyrolysis), converting biomass into a stable solid instead of letting it decay and release CO₂. Under Rainbow’s Inertinite Benchmark method, the biochar in this project is validated for at least 1,000 years of storage.
“Independent verification of inertinite content helps move durability from assumption toward measurement. MAX Burgers’ multi-year commitment is an important signal that buyers will pay for higher-integrity, long-duration storage—and it gives projects the certainty they need to scale,” says Richard Davis, Senior Partnerships Manager at Rainbow.
Applying this biochar to farmland can benefit both agriculture and horticulture.
“For us as farmers, this is a way to invest in the long-term health of the land. Biochar can improve soil quality, reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers, and create additional income. Having MAX Burgers as a multi-year buyer of our first 1,000-year credits helps us scale,” says Edvard Hamilton, owner of Biokol.se and Hjelmsäter.
MAX Burgers was founded in 1968 in Gällivare, northern Sweden, by Curt Bergfors and Britta Fredriksson. From a small roadside grill, MAX has grown into an international burger chain with restaurants in Sweden, Poland, Norway and Denmark. Their ambition is to become the world’s best burger chain by serving the tastiest burgers in a good way. Sustainability is an integrated part of the business: in 2008, MAX became the world’s first restaurant chain to climate‑label its menu. Since 2006, the Fair Distribution Foundation has allocated 7–10% of MAX’s annual net profit to poverty alleviation. Learn more: www.max.se
Biokol.se & Hjelmsäter is headquartered in Kinnekulle, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve area of Sweden, produces and sells biochar. In turn, it generates carbon credits via Rainbow Standard that are also sold to various businesses. The company was founded in 2021 and helps small biochar producers to sell and generate biochar carbon credits.
Rainbow is a carbon credit registry that issues high-integrity credits from rigorously assessed carbon removal projects. Backed by ICVCM approval and ICROA endorsement, we bring scientific rigor, field engineering expertise, and operational efficiency to every project, delivering faster certification without compromising quality.
MAX Burgers’ climate approach – a summary From 2015–2024, the company reports it reduced the climate impact of its food by 28% per 1,000 calories.
Since 2008, MAX has been working to measure, reduce, and remove greenhouse gas emissions, establishing itself as what it believes to be Sweden's largest buyer of voluntary carbon credits.
Today, MAX claims its carbon removal contributions are intended to be equivalent to its own direct emissions and purchased energy (Scope 1 and Scope 2 under the GHG Protocol).
Scope 1: For direct emissions (e.g., company vehicles and refrigerants), MAX Burgers says it is directing climate contributions to the Swedish biochar credits projected for at least 1,000 years of storage.
Scope 2: For emissions from purchased energy, MAX Burgers says it will continue supporting certified tropical reforestation projects, a method it has funded since 2008.
The Climate Positive claim has not been used by MAX after March 2025. Project Information
Project: RIV-2025-PROJ-104 Location: Hjelmsäter, located in the Kinnekulle UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Sweden. Technology: Pyrolysis of FSC-certified forestry residues. Delivery: 1,200 tons of credits over 3 years. Certification: Rainbow Standard’s inertinite-based methodology.
About the Rainbow Standard and the 1,000-year claim
The credits from Hjelmsäter are issued under the Rainbow Standard, which assesses long-term carbon storage in biochar by measuring the inertinite fraction of biochar (a highly stable form of carbon). Based on this measurement method, the project’s biochar is validated for a minimum storage duration of at least 1,000 years, well beyond the 100-year baseline commonly used in the voluntary carbon market.
Due diligence
MAX Burgers engaged the UK-based advisory firm CFP Energy to support due diligence on the purchase, including an assessment of the methodology and documentation used to substantiate long-duration storage.
“High-durability carbon removal claims require careful scrutiny. Based on our review, the Rainbow Standard’s approach provides a clear and documented basis for assessing long-term storage for this project.” said Jaclyn Foss, Head of Business Development, VCM, CFP Energy
CFP Energy is headquartered in London, CFP Energy provides leading energy transition and environmental solutions. Their expert team partners with businesses to accelerate global climate targets, offering strategic guidance and market access across the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) and broader sustainability services.
Probably first in the world
Navigating the evolving carbon market requires transparency. Based on current public registry data, MAX Burgers understands the Hjelmsäter project to be the first to issue biochar credits validated for 1,000-year durability (issuance recorded in August 2023). In 2023, as far as we know, only two standards had issued biochar credits with 1,000-year durability claims where the credits from Hjelmsäter was validated first.
References: [1] Rainbow Standard Registry: First 1,000-year issuance (August 2023) – Project RIV-2025-PROJ-104 (Hjelmsäter).
Available at: https://registry.rainbowstandard.io/projects/RIV-2025-PROJ-104?mechanism=REMOVAL [2] Isometric Registry: First 1,000-year issuance (December 2023).
Available at: https://registry.isometric.com/project/prj_1HHYZFVGW1S044ZY