Abstract Integrating carbonization and pelletization becomes an attractive technology for energy usage of biomass resources. A challenge to find a suitable method for densification of carbonized biomass has remained for decades. Firstly, pelletization by using three kinds of organic binders, lignin, starch and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was compared. PVA showed a better quality on the pellet strength and hydrophobicity. Binder can be a source of tar during pyrolysis or gasification. Furthermore, a new pelletization method by using organic binders coupled with additives was suggested. The strength of PVA pellet increased by employing the biomass gasification residue (BGR) as additive. The use of the additive can helps to reduce the binder usage and provides a good disposal method of the BGR. Mechanism of the influence of the binder and the BGR additive to the pellet quality was discussed. Overall, applying PVA as a binder and BGR as additive could be an adequate solution for carbonized pellet production with high strength and low tar generation for the gasification process.