Scope 3 · Category 12
Scope 3 Category 12: End-of-life treatment of sold products
Scope 3 Category 12 covers end-of-life treatment of sold products when they are disposed of or recycled by customers — landfill, incineration or recovery estimated from product mass and regional disposal assumptions. Packaging and product take-back schemes change both the activity mass and the emission factors used.
Category 12 covers end-of-life treatment of sold products and associated packaging when customers dispose of or recycle them.
Estimate product and packaging mass reaching end-of-life, then apply regional disposal-route mixes or take-back data. Design for recycling and take-back schemes change both mass and factors.
Operational waste you generate yourself is Category 5, not Category 12.
Related activity data
Related scopes
By activity data
By compliance framework
Frequently asked questions
- Do I include packaging in Category 12?
- Yes — packaging sold with products is commonly included in Category 12 end-of-life, using mass and disposal assumptions.
- What if products are landfilled in some markets and recycled in others?
- Use regional disposal mixes weighted by sales geography, or separate scenarios — disclose the approach.
- How is take-back reported?
- Mass returned through your scheme can use actual treatment routes, which usually improves on average disposal assumptions.
- Is Category 12 required for software?
- Usually immaterial. Physical goods and packaging drive Category 12.
- Can Category 12 be negative?
- Recycling credits are handled carefully under GHG Protocol rules — do not invent avoided-emission credits without a documented method.