Small steps, big impact: How the product carbon footprint can drive sustainability in business

Reducing CO_2e emissions is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. Companies are increasingly expected to make their operations more sustainable and actively contribute to climate protection. The CO_2e footprint – especially the product carbon footprint (PCF) – plays a key role in this process. It indicates how many greenhouse gases are emitted throughout the entire life cycle of a product and provides businesses with a reliable foundation for targeted optimization. More than just a life-cycle assessment tool, the PCF is a strategic lever for identifying efficiency potential and achieving sustainability goals. This article answers key questions, including: 

• What is the product carbon footprint?
• Why is it playing an increasingly important role for companies?
• How is the PCF calculated?
• How does Greiner Packaging support its customers in reaching their sustainability goals? 
• Conclusion

A product’s total carbon footprint is composed of numerous stages across the value chain. To calculate the final CO_2e  footprint of a product, every step must be considered in detail – from raw material extraction, production, and transportation to usage and, ultimately, disposal or recycling. These individual partial product carbon footprints (PCFs) together make up the total CO_2e footprint of a product and represent the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions released over the course of the product’s life cycle. 

A detailed PCF helps companies better understand how their products contribute to climate change. It allows them to identify hotspots in production and optimize them in order to reduce greenhouse emissions. In addition, the exchange of PCF data between companies along the value chain is becoming increasingly important. Many emissions along the value chain already occur in the upstream processes of suppliers. This is why Greiner Packaging provides its customers with information on the PCF of the packaging. This also contributes to the CO_2e impact of the final product.

The calculation of the PCF is complex and based on various factors along the value chain. Generally, five main factors are considered:

• Raw material extraction: This includes emissions from the mining and processing of the materials used.
• Manufacturing: This refers to the processing of raw materials into the final product, as well as the associated energy consumption and resulting emissions.
• Transport: This includes CO_2e emissions generated during logistics.
• Use: In this phase, additional emissions may occur depending on the product – for example, from energy consumption during use.
• Disposal: The environmental impact of recycling, landfilling, or incinerating the product is also taken into consideration. 

To calculate the PCFs of its products, Greiner Packaging has created a calculation model that links various data from internal systems, such as energy, transportation, and raw materials. The model and the calculation methodology were validated together with TÜV Austria to ensure the calculation itself and that the links to the inventory data have a solid basis. Greiner Packaging can now create product carbon footprints for the largest product groups according to the ISO 14067:2018 standard. The calculation is based on the cradle-to-gate system boundary, meaning all emissions generated up to the point the product leaves the factory gate are taken into account.

To effectively reduce the product carbon footprint, it is crucial to understand which aspects of the value chain have the greatest impact. The following four factors have the most significant influence on the products of Greiner Packaging and offer the greatest potential for optimization:

Choosing the right packaging material is a key factor in the environmental footprint of a product. Each material has specific advantages and disadvantages that weigh differently depending on the application. 

Since 2022, Greiner Packaging has been producing r-PET flakes from collected PET bottles at its Serbian plant in Nova Gajdobra. These are used both for in-house products and sold to customers. An external study showed that the PCF of r-PET flakes is just 0.43 CO_2e per kilogram – a value approximately 60% lower than that of virgin materialⁱ . The goal of the study was to calculate the global warming potential over a period of 100 years (GWP 100) to assess the climate impact of r-PET flake production. To determine the footprint, both raw material sourcing – meaning the collection, processing, and sorting of PET bottles – and the internal reprocessing at Greiner Packaging were analyzed in detail. Transport emissions related to material procurement were also included in the calculation, as well as the energy mix used in production – in Nova Gajdobra, this consists of 100% green electricity. 

The product carbon footprint offers companies valuable insights into the climate impact of their products. By analyzing and optimizing emissions along the value chain, companies can not only improve their CO_2e balance, but also gain economic advantages. For businesses, this presents an opportunity to use sustainability as a competitive edge and contribute to climate protection. Greiner Packaging supports its customers in this effort wherever possible. 

i: based on Ecoinvent v.3.11