Docs>Emissions>Methodology>Packaging emissions

Packaging emissions

Emissions from the packaging material (including fill-material)

Last updated 17 May 2024

To calculate the total packaging $\text{CO}_2$ emissions for a given order, Skrym includes both the material emissions from the actual package, as well as emissions from the fill material that is used to fill any empty spaces.

The package material emissions are calculated by using the following formula:

E_{\text{pack}} = A \cdot \rho \cdot e

where $A$ is the surface area (calculated based on FEFCO 0201 standard), $\rho$ is the density of the material, and $e$ is the emissions factor for the material.

Fill Material

The fill material emissions, $E_{\text{fill}}$ , are calculated by weighting the usage of all the different fill materials used by an organization by their respective emissions, and then multiplying the weighted usage by the total empty space in the package, namely:

E_{\text{fill}} = S \cdot U \cdot \sum_{f \in F} (u_f \cdot \rho_f \cdot e_f)

where $S$ is the total empty space in the package, $U$ is the fill material usage (representing how much of the empty space is filled), $F$ is the set of all fill materials, $u_f$ is the overall usage of fill material $f$ in the organization, $\rho_f$ is the density of fill material $f$ , and $e_f$ is the emissions factor for fill material $f$ .

Units

Variable	Unit	Description
$E$	kg $\text{CO}_2$	Emissions
$A$	$\text{m}^2$	Surface area
$\rho$	kg/ $\text{m}^2$	Density
$e$	kg $\text{CO}_2$ /kg	Emissions factor
$S$	%	Empty space
$U$ , $u$	%	Fill material usage