Definition
This category includes all upstream (i.e. cradle-to-gate) emissions from the manufacture of products purchased or acquired by the reporting company in the reporting year. Products only include tangible products; intangible products are included in 3.1.6 Other services.
This section deals specifically with materials that are not already included in sections 3.1.1 Paper - Prints, 3.1.2 Water, 3.1.3 Food - Drinks and 3.1.4 External Datacenter.
Accounting for other purchased goods
Companies can use the following methods to calculate emissions in category of other purchased goods:
- Average data method: Emissions from goods are estimated by collecting data on the mass or other relevant units of purchased goods and multiplying them by secondary emission factors.
- Supplier-specific method: Collection of cradle-to-gate emissions data from suppliers and multiplication by supplier-specific emission factors.
- Hybrid method: Combination of supplier-specific activity data and the use of secondary data if supplier-specific information is not available.
- Spend-based method: The emissions of goods are estimated by multiplying data on the economic value of purchased goods by secondary emission factors.
Data collection guidelines for the supplier-specific method
Activity data refers to the quantity or unit of the purchased good or service. Emission factors are supplier-specific cradle-to-gate emission factors.
Companies can send questionnaires to all relevant suppliers and partners in the value chain requesting the following data:
- Data on GHG emissions throughout the product life cycle according to the GHG Protocol Product Standard
- A description of the methods and data sources used to quantify emissions
- Whether the data has been verified and, if so, what type of quality assurance has been carried out
- Other relevant information (e.g. percentage of product inventory calculated using primary data)
The supplier's data should be for the same period as the reporting company's Scope 3 inventory. It is also recommended to ask for the ratio of primary to secondary data for the calculation of emission factors. This makes it possible to measure improvements in the information provided.
Data collection guidelines for the hybrid method
In order to combine the primary data collected from the supplier with secondary data, the secondary emission factors must be disaggregated. If available, they can then be overwritten with supplier-specific data.
The following information should be requested from the supplier for the calculation:
- Internal data systems (e.g. parts lists, distance traveled by incoming raw materials)
- Public greenhouse gas balances
Data collection guidelines for the average data method
Activity data refers to the quantity or unit of the purchased good or service. Emission factors are cradle-to-gate emission factors per unit or quantity of the purchased good or service.
The activity data can be taken from the following sources:
- Internal data systems (e.g. parts lists)
- Purchase receipts
Data sources for emission factors are:
- Process life cycle databases
- Industry associations.
Companies should evaluate the age of the database (temporal representativeness), the geographical relevance for the supplier's location (geographical representativeness) as well as the technological representativeness, completeness and reliability of the data.
Accounting for other purchased goods in the Climate Hub
Some predefined activities with emission factors are stored in the Climate Hub. You can enter the quantity here. The Climate Hub then calculates the emissions for you. If you would like to specify further activities or use your own emission factors, you can do so by clicking on the Add your own activity button at the bottom left. You can find a detailed description here. You can also upload a CSV file with activities and associated emission factors. You can find detailed instructions here.
Further information can be found in the Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions of the GHG Protocol in Chapter 1: Purchased Goods and Services from page 20.