Should staff uniforms and one-off promotional T-shirts be recorded the same way?

Both count as purchased apparel, but record them as separate line items where possible — uniform programmes are usually recurring and specified by fabric blend, while promotional merchandise is often a one-off order that may only have spend data available.

We buy trainers for a safety footwear scheme — do we use the full life-cycle sub-types?

Only if you are deliberately reporting a product life-cycle view. For a standard organisational carbon footprint, use the manufacturing (cradle-to-gate) sub-type; the use-of-product and end-of-life LCA sub-types are for specialist product-level studies, not routine Scope 3 reporting.

How do we handle PPE like nitrile gloves and face masks bought in bulk?

Record the unit count or spend from procurement invoices against the PPE sub-types; because PPE is often purchased in very high unit volumes, small errors in unit counting can have an outsized effect, so reconcile against delivery notes periodically.

Does apparel purchased by a franchisee count in our inventory?

Only if your organisational boundary (equity share, financial control, or operational control) includes the franchisee. If the franchisee is outside your boundary, their apparel purchases are excluded from your footprint, even if they use your branding.

What if we cannot identify fabric composition for older uniform orders?

Use the closest "Mixed" or "Average" sub-type (e.g. Clothing: Mixed) rather than guessing a specific fibre blend, and prioritise capturing composition data on new supplier contracts going forward.

Activity data·Purchased goods & materials

How to measure emissions from Apparel

Apparel activity data covers purchased clothing, footwear and PPE such as uniforms, workwear and safety gear, recorded by unit, weight or spend against Scope 3 Category 1. Use fibre-specific sub-types (cotton, polyester, blended) where known, and the manufacturing stage rather than full life-cycle sub-types for standard reporting. Source figures from itemised procurement or uniform-supplier invoices rather than blended order totals.

Scope: Scope 3 Category 1
What activity data you need: Unit, tonne, £ Spend
Activity data: Purchased goods & materials

What counts as Apparel

Clothing, footwear and personal protective equipment (PPE) purchased by the organisation for staff uniforms, workwear, safety gear or promotional merchandise. Covers the purchased-goods emissions embedded in garments and footwear at point of purchase; excludes apparel purchased for resale by a retailer, which is recorded against that specific product line.

Apparel sits within purchased goods alongside the broader Textiles entry, but is used specifically for finished garments and footwear rather than raw or intermediate textile materials — use Textiles when you are purchasing fabric, yarn or unmade cloth, and Apparel once it becomes a wearable product such as a jumper, jacket or pair of trainers. Life-cycle sub-types (manufacturing, transport and distribution, use, and end-of-life) are available for some products such as trainers; unless you are running a full product life-cycle assessment, the manufacturing (cradle-to-gate) sub-type is usually the correct choice for a standard purchased-goods inventory.

How to collect the data

Procurement or uniform-supplier invoices are the primary source, ideally itemised by garment type (T-shirt, jumper, jacket, footwear) and quantity or spend rather than a single blended order value. Where fibre composition is known (e.g. cotton vs polyester vs blended), record it against the closest matching sub-type, since composition materially changes the purchased-goods intensity; PPE such as gloves and face masks should be tracked separately from general workwear given typically higher unit volumes.

What activity data you need

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

Unit
tonne
£ Spend

Which emission scope it falls under

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

Scope 3 Category 1

By emission scope

Scope 3 Category 1

Compliance frameworks

Compliance & reporting frameworks

Sub-types available in the platform

All 20 sub-types available in the platform.

Boots: Average: Global average
Clothing: Mixed
Clothing: Mixed: UK
Designing: Fashion: Average: UK
Gloves: Average: UK
Jacket: Average: UK
Jumper: 60% cotton 40% polyester: Global average
Jumper: Cotton: Conventional: Global average
PPE: Face mask: Global average
PPE: Nitrile gloves: Global average
Shoe: Trainer (pair)
Shoe: Trainer (pair) End of Life (LCA)
Shoe: Trainer (pair) T&D (LCA)
Shoe: Trainer (pair) Use of Product (LCA)
T Shirt: Harlyn Tee
T-Shirt: 50% cotton 50% polyester: Global average
T-Shirt: Cotton: Conventional: Global average
T-Shirt: Polyester: Global average
Trainers: Average: Global average
Trousers: Average: UK

Common questions

Should staff uniforms and one-off promotional T-shirts be recorded the same way?: Both count as purchased apparel, but record them as separate line items where possible — uniform programmes are usually recurring and specified by fabric blend, while promotional merchandise is often a one-off order that may only have spend data available.
We buy trainers for a safety footwear scheme — do we use the full life-cycle sub-types?: Only if you are deliberately reporting a product life-cycle view. For a standard organisational carbon footprint, use the manufacturing (cradle-to-gate) sub-type; the use-of-product and end-of-life LCA sub-types are for specialist product-level studies, not routine Scope 3 reporting.
How do we handle PPE like nitrile gloves and face masks bought in bulk?: Record the unit count or spend from procurement invoices against the PPE sub-types; because PPE is often purchased in very high unit volumes, small errors in unit counting can have an outsized effect, so reconcile against delivery notes periodically.
Does apparel purchased by a franchisee count in our inventory?: Only if your organisational boundary (equity share, financial control, or operational control) includes the franchisee. If the franchisee is outside your boundary, their apparel purchases are excluded from your footprint, even if they use your branding.
What if we cannot identify fabric composition for older uniform orders?: Use the closest "Mixed" or "Average" sub-type (e.g. Clothing: Mixed) rather than guessing a specific fibre blend, and prioritise capturing composition data on new supplier contracts going forward.

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Related in this cluster·Purchased goods & materials