How to measure emissions from Waste metal

What counts as Waste metal

Metal waste generated by an organisation's ongoing operations, such as aluminium and steel drinks cans, mixed cans and general scrap metal — as distinct from metal waste arising from construction or demolition projects.

This page is for metal waste from normal day-to-day activity — canteen and vending cans, packaging offcuts and general scrap — rather than metal recovered from a building or demolition project, which sits on the waste construction page under its own 'Waste: Metals' sub-stream. If your organisation generates both, agree which page each waste transfer note or skip belongs to and apply that split consistently, so the same tonnage of metal is never reported under both categories in the same period. Where cans, foil and scrap are collected together in one mixed-metals skip, use the 'Waste: Scrap metal' sub-type unless your contractor already breaks the tonnage down by can type.

What activity data you need

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

• Tonne

Which emission scope it falls under

Waste metal activity data typically maps to Scope 3 Category 5 under the GHG Protocol. Confirm organisational boundary and ownership before reporting.

Sub-types available in the platform

All 4 sub-types available in the platform.

• Waste: Aluminium cans and foil
• Waste: Mixed cans
• Waste: Scrap metal
• Waste: Steel cans

Common questions

What's the difference between waste metal and the metals sub-stream under waste construction?

Waste metal is for metal generated through ongoing operations (cans, packaging, general scrap); the metals sub-stream under waste construction is specifically for metal arising from a building, fit-out or demolition project. Choose one page per waste stream to avoid double-counting.

Do I need to separate aluminium cans, steel cans and mixed cans?

Where your waste contractor already reports the breakdown, use the matching sub-type ('Waste: Aluminium cans and foil', 'Waste: Mixed cans' or 'Waste: Steel cans'); if only a combined figure is available, report it under 'Waste: Scrap metal' rather than estimating a split.

How do I get weight data if my metal waste goes into a mixed dry recycling skip?

Ask your recycling contractor for the material composition report they use for their own records — most contractors can provide an estimated or measured metal fraction by weight for mixed recycling loads.

Does scrap metal sold for value still count as waste for reporting purposes?

Yes. Whether the metal is disposed of, recycled or sold on, the tonnage should still be reported here if it left the organisation as a waste or by-product stream; use the sales or collection note as your data source.

Which unit should I use if my contractor reports skip volumes rather than weight?

The only unit tracked on this page is tonnes, so request the converted weight figure from your contractor rather than reporting a skip count or volume — most metal recyclers weigh loads on collection and can supply this on request.