Calculate Emissions from Freight Hauling and Waste

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

Explain freight hauling emissions.
List key fields on Generated Waste and Waste Footprint records.
Calculate scope 3 emissions for freight hauling and waste handling activities.

Transporting Materials and Goods

Another major contributor to scope 3 emissions for NTO is the transportation and distribution of finished goods in freight trucks from warehouses to retail stores, and of raw materials from vendor sites to NTO office locations. Just like business travel emissions, Net Zero Cloud enables Sam to collect and calculate data for emissions from freight hauling activities.

First, Sam creates a Scope 3 Emissions Source record and associates a Freight Hauling Emission Factor record to it. The emissions factor record refers to the Freight Hauling Mode, which can be air, trucking, rail, or sea-borne.

A Freight Hauling Emissions Factor record showing emissions factors for CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O, and an associated Other Emissions Factor record.

Sam records the movement of freight by air, rail, sea, or truck as Freight Hauling Energy Use records. The key values used for emissions calculation are the distance traveled, the distance unit, the weight of the shipment, and the weight unit. The freight hauling mode must match the mode chosen on the Freight Hauling Emissions Factor record.

Sam must set the scope 3 category to either Upstream Transportation and Distribution or Downstream Transportation and Distribution. This choice affects how the calculated CO₂e is allocated between the two Scope 3 Emissions (tCO₂e) fields (Upstream and Downstream) on a carbon footprint record.

Freight Hauling Emissions Calculations

Sam notes the following data for freight hauling on the energy use record.

Freight Hauling Mode: Rail
Distance: 2,000 km
Scope 3 Category: Downstream Transportation and Distribution
Weight: 2,000 kg

The Freight Hauling - Rail- EPA 2020 record specifies the following values.

CO₂ Emissions Factor = 0.014384 kg/tonne-km
CH₄ Emissions Factor = 0.001164 g/tonne-km
N₂O Emissions Factor = 0.000342 g/tonne-km

These units tell us the amount of greenhouse gases released as a function of distance and weight of the shipment.

Net Zero Cloud calculates emissions for CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O as follows.

Emissions (Kg) = Distance (Km) * Weight (kg) * Emissions Factor (kg/tonne-km)

CO₂ Emissions (Kg) = 2000*2000*0.014384/1000 = 57.536
CH₄ Emissions (Kg) = 2000*2000*0.001164/(1000*1000) = 0.004656
N₂O Emissions (Kg) = 2000*2000*0.000342/(1000*1000) = 0.001368

The Other Emissions Factor Set record defines the following Global Warming Potential (GWP) values.

CH₄ GWP = 28
N₂O GWP = 265

And here’s the calculation for freight hauling emissions.

Scope 3 Emissions (tCO₂e) = [CO₂ Emissions (Kg) + CH₄ Emissions (Kg) * CH₄ GWP +N₂O Emissions (Kg) * N₂O GWP/1000

= [57.536+ (0.004656 * 28) + (0.001368 * 265)]/1000

= (57.536 + 0.130368 + 0.36252)/1000

= 0.0580

What Makes Up Your Waste?

Managing emissions from waste and creating a comprehensive emissions inventory that includes accounting for waste disposal are necessary to reduce scope 3 emissions. To complete a detailed scope 3 GHG inventory, consistent with the GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard, emissions from waste disposal (category 5) and end-of-life treatment of sold products (category 12) are also relevant. Therefore, Sam must find a way to estimate GHG emissions for these categories.

With Net Zero Cloud, Sam can account for the waste generated from NTO’s activities in a specific reporting period. Waste Emissions Factors are applied to the values in a Generated Waste record to calculate waste-related emissions expressed in tCO₂e.

In Net Zero Cloud, Scope 3 Upstream Emissions show the waste generated from operations, such as the processing of raw materials. Scope 3 Downstream Emissions show the waste generated from activities like end-of-life disposal of goods and use of sold goods by end users.

Here’s how Net Zero Cloud helps you track, record, and integrate waste-related emissions into the relevant categories.

Emissions Source	Disposal Site Type	Emissions Scope
Stationary Asset Environmental Source	Onsite	Scope 1
Stationary Asset Environmental Source	Offsite	Scope 3 (waste in operations)
Scope 3 Emissions Source	Offsite	Scope 3 (end-of-life treatment of sold products)

Records That Matter

The Generated Waste record is like an energy use record and helps a company account for the waste that’s generated. Here are the record’s key fields.

Waste Type
Disposal Type
Disposal Site Type
Disposed Waste Quantity
Disposed Waste Quantity Unit

While defining a Generated Waste record, you can either specify the Stationary Asset Environmental Source or the Scope 3 Emissions Source. Let’s understand how the different fields and values affect the accounting of scope 3 emissions.

If Sam associates a Stationary Asset Environmental Source record with a Generated Waste record, and specifies the field value for Disposal Site Type as Offsite, the emissions are recorded in the field Scope 3 Upstream Emissions from Waste Generated in Operations (tCO₂e).
If Sam associates a Stationary Asset Environmental Source record with a Generated Waste record, and specifies the field value for Disposal Site Type as Onsite, the emissions are recorded in the field Scope 1 Emissions (tCO₂e).
If Sam associates a Scope 3 Emissions Source record with a Generated Waste record, and specifies the field value for Disposal Site Type as Offsite, the emissions are recorded in the field Scope 3 Downstream Emissions from End-of-Life Treatment of Sold Products (tCO₂e).

To calculate waste-based emissions, Net Zero Cloud looks at preloaded data in the Waste Disposal Emissions Factors record. The key values used in the calculation are waste type and disposal method. Emissions from waste depend on the type of waste being disposed of (cardboard, food waste, plastic, or aluminum cans), and the waste disposal method (incinerated, landfilled, or recycled). A Waste Disposal Emissions Factor Set can have multiple Waste Disposal Emissions Factor Set Item records, one for each waste type and disposal method, with specific emissions factor expressed in tCO₂e/metric ton units.

A Waste Disposal Emissions Factor Set record showing multiple Waste Disposal Emissions Factor Set Item records associated with it, one for each waste type and disposal type.

A Waste Footprint record is similar to a Carbon Footprint record. Sam can create a single Waste Footprint record per year and then associate all Generated Waste records with the Waste Footprint. Moreover, each Waste Footprint record can have child Waste Footprint Item records. These records aggregate emissions by Waste Type and Disposal Type.

A Waste Footprint record showing multiple Waste Footprint Item records associated with it, one for each waste type and disposal type.

Make Your Waste Count

Sam gathers the following details in a Generated Waste record.

Waste Type: Aluminum Cans
Disposal Type: Recycled
Disposal Site Type: Offsite
Disposed Waste Quantity in Metric Tonne: 30.00

The record Waste Disposal Factors - EPA 2020 for AluminumCans-Recycled emissions factor set item defines the Emissions Factor Value (tCO₂e/tonne waste material) as 0.0661.

Since the Disposal Site Type is Offsite, the emissions are treated as scope 3 emissions. Moreover, this waste is generated as a result of operations. The final emissions are updated in the field Scope 3 Upstream Emissions from Waste Generated in Operations (tCO₂e) on the Generated Waste record.

And here’s the formula for calculating waste-related emissions.

Scope 3 Emissions (tCO₂e) = Disposed Waste Quantity in Tonnes * Emissions Factor Value (tCO₂e/Tonne Waste Material)

= 30.00*0.0661 = 1.98300

A Generated Waste record showing the autocalculated Scope 3 Downstream Emissions from End-of-Life Treatment of Sold Products value.

In the next unit, we’ll follow Sam as he explores emissions calculations for value chain-related or procurement activities.