Cardboard, primary production, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (GB)

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Background of emission factor

The emission factor covers the emissions from producing a cardboard product made from virgin raw materials — from sourcing the raw materials all the way to delivering the finished product to the wholesaler. It also includes transportation up to the wholesaler, but not any transport after the product has been handed over to the buyer.

Emission factor category

A product’s emission factor indicates either life cycle emissions (cradle-to-grave) or emissions from production (cradle-to-gate). The correct emission factor depends on the type of calculation being made. Cradle-to-grave is commonly used for consumer products, while cradle-to-gate is often more practical for business-to-business cases, especially for raw materials. The cradle-to-gate emission factor is, for example, applied in industrial companies’ scope 3 calculations when assessing emissions from raw material purchasing. A product’s carbon footprint also often includes only the cradle-to-gate stages, in which case it is referred to as a partial carbon footprint.