How to measure emissions from Packaging

What counts as Packaging

Packaging covers materials purchased specifically to package, protect or present products — cardboard boxes, pallet wrap, bottles, cans, bags and similar — rather than materials that form part of the product itself. It's reported under Scope 3 Category 1 (Purchased Goods and Services), by material type and weight wherever possible, because the emissions intensity of a tonne of glass, aluminium or plastic film differs substantially. Primary packaging (around the product), secondary (grouping units) and tertiary (pallets, shrink wrap for transport) can all be included, but keep them distinguishable in your data if you report by packaging tier.

Packaging sits alongside Materials, Metal, Mineral, Plastic, Paper and Textiles in the purchased goods cluster, but its defining feature is function, not composition — anything bought to wrap, contain, cushion or brand a product belongs here regardless of whether it's made of plastic, board, glass or metal. This matters because a company producing plastic packaging and a company buying plastic resin for manufacturing would otherwise both file under "plastic," losing the distinction between packaging and production inputs. Many organisations already hold this data for extended producer responsibility (EPR) or packaging waste reporting obligations in the UK and EU, which typically breaks weight down by material category — a useful starting point for activity data too. Avoid double counting with Waste categories: packaging purchased is reported here, and packaging disposed of at end of life is a separate waste activity.

What activity data you need

Collect the most specific physical unit available. Unit definitions are in Appendix I — Description of Units.

• kg
• tonne

Which emission scope it falls under

Packaging activity data typically maps to Scope 3 Category 1 under the GHG Protocol. Confirm organisational boundary and ownership before reporting.

Sub-types / categories covered

• Aluminium cans and foil
• Bioplastic: Polylactic Acid (PLA): Thailand
• Board only
• eCommerce bag: Extra Large (117g)
• eCommerce bag: Large (89g)
• eCommerce bag: Medium (53g)
• eCommerce bag: Small (30g)
• Glass
• Glass jar with metal lid
• Insulation: Cork
• Materials: Ceramics
• Mixed board and paper
• Mixed cans
• Paper only
• Plastic: Average plastic film
• Plastic: Average plastic rigid
• Plastic: Average plastics
• Plastic: HDPE (incl. forming)
• Plastic: LDPE and LLDPE (incl. forming)
• Plastic: PET (incl. forming)
• Plastic: PP (incl. forming)
• Plastic: PS (incl. forming)
• Plastic: PVC (incl. forming)
• Steel cans
• Steel: Cold rolled coil
• Wood: Average timber

Data entry options

• production type

  Select production type when entering packaging activity data in the platform.

Full list of data entry options

Common questions

How is packaging different from the Materials category?

Materials covers inputs that become part of the product itself; Packaging covers everything bought to contain, protect or present that product. A cereal box is packaging, but the cardboard used inside a manufactured product would be a material.

Does packaging used only for internal transport between our own sites count?

Generally yes, if it's purchased packaging material, though many organisations focus reporting effort on packaging that leaves the site with sold products, since that's usually the larger and more scrutinised volume.

Should tertiary packaging like pallet wrap and shipping pallets be included?

Yes, if it's purchased by your organisation — shrink wrap, strapping and disposable pallets used to move goods to customers are all packaging inputs, even though they're not visible to the end consumer.

We use a mix of virgin and recycled-content packaging — does that matter for activity data?

Record it if your supplier can specify it, since recycled-content materials are tracked as distinct subtypes in some material categories. If your supplier can't break it down, an average factor for that material is a reasonable fallback.

Do I need separate figures for each packaging format, or can I use total weight?

Breaking weight down by material — plastic film, board, glass, metal cans — gives a more accurate result than a single blended total, since each material has a very different emissions intensity per tonne.