3.11 Use of Sold Products

Defintion

This category includes emissions from the use of products and services sold by the reporting company in the reporting year. A reporting company's Scope 3 emissions from the use of products sold include Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from end consumers. End users include both consumers and business customers who use end products.

A distinction is made between products with direct emissions in the use phase and products with indirect emissions in the use phase. The former are mandatory, the latter are optional. However, if the products with indirect emissions in the use phase make a significant contribution to the balance, these should be listed.

Products with direct emissions in the use phase  

Companies should first determine which categories their products belong to. The following products have direct emissions in the use phase:

If a company sells a wide range of products or if the usage phase of several products is similar, it may choose to group similar products and use average statistics for a typical product in the product group. For example, a fast-moving consumer goods company selling carbonated drinks may decide to group products by packaging type and treat all products within that group with the same usage profile.

Accounting for products that consume direct energy during use

Multiplying the expected number of uses of each product during its lifetime by the quantity sold and an emission factor. Subsequently adding up all products in the use phase.

It is important to consider the region in which the products are used, especially if the product consumes electricity, as the emission factors of electricity grids can vary greatly. If the product is used globally, a company may consider using a global average electricity emission factor. However, estimating product use at a regional or national level and applying regional or national electricity grid emission factors would result in more accurate emission estimates.

Accounting for fuels and raw materials

If the reporting company is a producer of fuels and/or raw materials, the emissions in the use phase are calculated by multiplying the fuel/raw material quantities by the emission factors for the combustion of the fuels/raw materials. If the input material is not burned in the use phase, no emissions should be calculated.

Note that only the emissions from combustion should be reported in this category, not the upstream emissions associated with the fuel/raw material.

Accounting for greenhouse gases or products that form or contain greenhouse gases

If the reporting company manufactures products that contain greenhouse gases, the emissions in the use phase are calculated as follows: The quantity of products sold is multiplied by the proportion of greenhouse gases released per unit of gas contained in the product and by the global warming potential (GWP) of the gases released.

The company should first record all the different types of greenhouse gases contained in a product and then aggregate them for all products.

Products with indirect emissions in the use phase

For products that indirectly consume energy or emit greenhouse gases (e.g. clothing during washing or food during refrigeration), the reporting company should calculate emissions by creating a typical use phase profile over the life of the product and multiplying it by relevant emission factors. The emission factors applied should be representative of both the geographical location where the product is sold and the reporting year.

Determining a typical use phase can be difficult, as the same product can consume different amounts of energy depending on the conditions under which it is used. It is therefore important to establish a usage profile that is representative of the usage scenarios over the lifetime of the product by the intended consumer population. This can come from sources such as the following:

• Industry recognized benchmark tests
• Rules for the product category
• Previous emissions studies
• Consumer studies.

Companies may choose to identify different usage scenarios for a product and create a weighted average.

Required emission factors

• Life cycle emission factors for fuels
• Life cycle emission factors for electricity
• Global warming potential of refrigerants

Co2e emissions from the use of the products sold

Total fuel consumed through the use of the products:

∑ (Total lifetime expected use of the product × number of products sold during the reporting period × fuel consumed per use (kWh) × emission factor for fuel (kg CO2 e/kWh)) +

Total electricity consumed by the use of the products:

∑ (Total lifetime expected use of the product × number of products sold during the reporting period × electricity consumed per use (kWh) × emission factor for electricity (kg CO2 e/kWh)) +

Sum of refrigerant leakages from the use of the products:

∑ (expected total useful life of the product × number of products sold during the reporting period × refrigerant leakage per use (kg) × global warming potential (kg CO2 e/kg))

Data collection

Data sources for activity data include

• Internal data systems
• Sales records
• Surveys
• Industry associations.

In practice, emissions vary by application and country for the following reasons:

• Technology: the completeness of combustion can vary from application to application
• Exact fuel blend: the exact fuel blend can vary from region to region and from company to company, e.g. the types of aromatic hydrocarbons blended into gasoline can change combustion emissions.

Because of these differences, companies should use the most representative emission factors for their fuel.

Accounting for the use of sold products in the Climate Hub

No predefined activities are stored in the Climate Hub. You can create new activities using the Add own activity button. You can find a detailed description here. 

Further information can be found in the Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions  of the GHG Protocol in Chapter 11: Use of Sold Products from page 113.