Hi Darrell,
It will ultimately boil down to where the packaging is made. If the packaging is fully made by suppliers, then that will go in the Scope 3 bucket. If the packaging (using your shampoo bottle example) is molded at a brand-owned facility, then the purchased electricity used to power the facility would fall under Scope 2, and therefore the emissions of producing the bottle will primarily be Scope 2. Keep in mind that there will almost always be some Scope 3 contributions for packaging; even if the brand is molding the bottles in-house, they are still purchasing raw materials, which fall under the Scope 3 purchased goods and services emissions category.
Here's my favorite simple scope definition that I've heard used:
- Scope 1: energy/fuel your company burns
- Scope 2: electricity your company buys
- Scope 3: all the things you buy (what happens outside the boundaries of your organization)
And here's a slightly more detailed version (found here)
Definitions of scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions
Essentially, scope 1 and 2 are those emissions that are owned or controlled by a company, whereas scope 3 emissions are a consequence of the activities of the company but occur from sources not owned or controlled by it.
Scope 1 emissions
Scope 1 covers emissions from sources that an organisation owns or controls directly – for example from burning fuel in our fleet of vehicles (if they're not electrically-powered).
Scope 2 emissions
Scope 2 are emissions that a company causes indirectly when the energy it purchases and uses is produced. For example, for our electric fleet vehicles the emissions from the generation of the electricity they're powered by would fall into this category.
Scope 3 emissions
Scope 3 encompasses emissions that are not produced by the company itself, and not the result of activities from assets owned or controlled by them, but by those that it's indirectly responsible for, up and down its value chain. An example of this is when we buy, use and dispose of products from suppliers. Scope 3 emissions include all sources not within the scope 1 and 2 boundaries.
Hope this helps!
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Katie Exum
Product Manager
Specright
San Clemente CA
(310) 749-8588
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-01-2023 01:58
From: Darell Chung
Subject: is energy use in packaging production scope 2-3 for a brand?
Hi all, anyone familiar with Scope 1-3 carbon emissions?
I was wondering in the case of a brand, would the energy used to make the packaging for their product (example shampoo bottle),
be considered scope 2 or 3.
As I think, it can be either seen as buying a finished product(Scope 3) or toll producing their product(Scope 2).
Tried to look for examples online but couldn't find any.
Is anyone familiar with what standard practices are?
Thank you.
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Darell Chung, CPP
Sustainability Packaging Manager, South Asia
Milliken Asia
darell.chung@milliken.com
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