Calculating a Product's Carbon Footprint
MATERIALITY’s team of experienced analysts will guide your company through the process of calculating the carbon footprint of a product or service. We support our clients at every stage: from identifying data sources and analyzing the value chain, through building a calculation tool, to communicating the results without the risk of greenwashing.
A product’s carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated throughout its life cycle: from the extraction of raw materials, through production and transportation, to disposal or recycling. The calculation can be performed using various approaches:
- cradle-to-gate – covers emissions associated with a product’s life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials until the product leaves the facility. This approach is more commonly used in B2B models.
- cradle-to-grave – covers the entire product life cycle, including transportation to the end user and the end of the product’s life. The recommended approach for companies operating in the B2C model, which also provides the data necessary for planning decarbonization efforts.
Increasing regulatory and market requirements mean that calculation the product's carbon footprint becomes has become a necessity for many companies. Business partners, retail chains, and financial institutions are increasingly requiring documented emissions calculations as a condition for cooperation or access to financing, and the growing demands for fact-based communication are additional a motivator, to calculate a product's carbon footprint.
How will we work together?
Pilot Program
As part of the pilot phase, we will calculate the carbon footprint for one representative group of products, selected in collaboration with your team. This phase includes:
- selection of a representative group of products for the calculation;
- value chain analysis and identification of data sources;
- an analysis of available greenhouse gas emission indicators and the selection of a calculation methodology;
- developing a carbon footprint calculation tool and performing calculations for a pilot group of products;
- support in communicating results without the risk of greenwashing;
- Develop guidelines for automating carbon footprint calculations for the entire product portfolio.
Automation
For companies with a broad and diverse product portfolio, automating the calculation process is essential. Drawing on our experience from the pilot phase, we support the implementation of a tool that enables the real-time calculation of products’ carbon footprints. This phase includes:
- designing the system architecture and methodology for calculating the carbon footprint of products;
- support in developing an application for automatic calculations that can be integrated with internal databases;
- the development of emission indicator databases;
- Support in developing communication about the carbon footprint of products without the risk of greenwashing.
Results of cooperation
The result of this collaboration is a documented and reliable calculation of the products’ carbon footprint, ready for use in communications with customers, compliance with requirements stakeholders in chainu supply chain management, CSRD reporting, and dialogue with financial institutions. Along with the calculation, you’ll receive a tool tailored to your organization’s specific needs, a set of emissions metrics, and guidelines for reliable environmental reporting—all of which serve as a solid foundation for planning further decarbonization efforts.
What distinguishes our Carbon footprint calculations for products?
A phased approach—minimizing risk and building internal capabilities
Communication Support
Focus on Automation
More information on calculating a product's carbon footprint
Check related services
We count the carbon footprint in three ranges, according to the GHG Protocol methodology.
We prepare product life cycle assessments (LCA) in accordance with ISO 14040 and ISO 14044.
We develop EPDs all the way through to preparing the data for the Digital Product Passport (DPD).
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