05 · Analyse
Product Carbon Footprint
Customer-ready
A customer has asked for the carbon footprint of your product. We work out the emissions of one unit to a recognised standard and write it up so that customer, an auditor or a platform will accept it.
What you get
- A report that says plainly what method we used, where we drew the boundary, and how shared impacts were split
- A summary in whatever format your customer actually asked for
- The calculation file handed over to you, with a data-quality rating instead of a bare number
Standards
The standard is agreed before work starts and named in the report, because the one that counts is the one your customer, auditor or platform will accept. In practice that means ISO 14067 for the footprint itself, ISO 14040 and 14044 for the life cycle model underneath, the GHG Protocol where the figure has to reconcile with a Scope 3 inventory, and EN 15804 with the applicable PCR where the number is headed for an EPD.
Common questions
Why are customers asking for a product carbon footprint?
Usually because they report their own Scope 3 emissions, and your product is part of them. Large companies in the EU, the UK, the US, Canada and Australia increasingly report Scope 3, under law or under pressure from investors, and the quickest way to improve that number is to swap industry averages for real supplier figures.
Which standard should a product carbon footprint follow?
ISO 14067 is the standard written for product carbon footprints, and the GHG Protocol Product Standard is the other one customers often name. The one that counts is the one your customer, auditor or platform accepts, so we agree it before we start and name it in the report.
What's the difference between a PCF and an LCA?
A product carbon footprint counts one thing: greenhouse gas emissions. A life cycle assessment covers a wider set of impacts, such as water, land and resource use, as well as climate. If a customer only asked for a carbon number, a PCF is usually enough.