Product

Calculation method

The CO2Calculator database employs the waste-type-specific method, as referenced in the GHG Protocol, to calculate emissions from waste generated by a company’s operations but handled by third parties. This method utilizes emission factors for specific waste types and treatment methods, using the following activity data for calculations:

1. Produced Waste: The amount of waste measured in tons.
2. Waste Type: Types of waste generated (e.g., cardboard, food waste, residual waste).
3. Waste Treatment Method: Documentation of the specific treatment method used for each waste type (e.g., incineration, landfill, recycling).

Additionally, validated, waste-type-specific, and waste-treatment-specific emission factors have been collected, accounting for end-of-life processes. These factors include emissions from the transport of individual waste fractions within the logistical cycle, covering CO2 emissions from collection at the production site (source sorting) to the treatment/pre-treatment facility. The subsequent logistical and production handling leading to new production (new product) is not included in the calculation cycle. Our distance calculation tool uses Google Maps calculations. All figures are expressed as kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per ton of material. This includes the Kyoto Protocol’s basket of greenhouse gases. Note that biogenic CO2 is excluded from these figures.

Calculation Formula: CO2e Emissions from Waste Generated in Operations
∑ (produced waste (tons) × waste-type- and waste-treatment-specific emission factor (kg CO2e/ton))

Companies can both purchase recycled materials and sell recyclable products. To avoid double counting of emissions, the recommended allocation method, the “recycled content method” according to the GHG Protocol, is used. This method allocates emissions to the company that uses the recycled material. Using this accounting methodology, emissions from recycling are reported as close to zero based on the scope 3 boundary definition. Although this methodology is suitable for accounting, it is not ideal for decision-making regarding alternative waste management options. To create transparency and reveal the full greenhouse gas effects within and outside the inventory boundary, the TCC database also visualizes the avoided emissions. The figures for avoided emissions compare the emissions from processing recycled materials with the production of equivalent virgin materials. These figures should be used as an indicator of the avoided emissions from recycling and as a motivational factor for proper waste management and sorting. If this figure is reported, it should be reported separately from the scope 3 inventory.

Data collection

Data is collected from a wide range of sources, including industry associations providing average information at the European level, databases such as ecoinvent, Defra, EXIOBASE, and reports and data from third parties (e.g., national and international research institutes, academic journals, manufacturer information, public-municipal data, and treatment plant data). Transport data sources are based on figures from the Defra database with a distribution between vehicle type and function. Waste management data is modeled using Ecoinvent data and WRATE.

A comprehensive effort is made to ensure that the data used is relevant and complete as a basis for TheCO2Calculator. For the majority of materials and products, the data meets the quality standards defined below. However, it is not always possible to find data that meets these standards in a field that continues to try to meet the increased data demands from science and EU regulation.

Examples of Sources from Ecoinvent:
LCA institutes in the ETH domain (Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH) Zurich and Lausanne, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) Villigen, and Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) in St. Gallen and Dübendorf) and the LCA group from Agroscope in Zurich continued their collaboration in the Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, ecoinvent Centre.

Europe

• Mines ParisTech in Paris, France
• Norwegian University of Science and Technology
• Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy
• Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden
• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich & Lausanne
• Technical University of Denmark
• University of Cambridge, England
• University of Oxford, England
• University of Stuttgart, Germany

North America

• Berkeley University of California, USA
• Harvard University, USA
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
• Polytechnic University of Montreal, Canada
• Stanford University, USA
• Yale University, USA

Asia

• Beijing Institute of Technology, China
• National University of Singapore
• The Energy and Resources Institute, India
• University of Tokyo, Japan

South America

• Federal University of Technology – Paraná, Brazil
• Pontifical Catholic University of Peru
• University of Los Andes, Colombia
• University of São Paulo, Brazil

Africa

• University of Cape Town, South Africa
• University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Oceania

• Massey University, New Zealand
• University of New South Wales, Australia