I cannot get my customers' data. How does the average-data method work for Category 10, and what unit does the guide state the factor in?
Name the customer's processing steps, then multiply the mass of intermediate product sold by an industry average factor for those steps. The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol's sugar example is 1,000 kilograms times 1.5, giving 1,500 kilograms. The guide states the factor per kilogram of final product, so check which basis your factor uses.
What to collect
Purchasing records and internal systems give the activity data. Factors come from life cycle databases, the GHG Protocol's calculation tools, companies or manufacturers, and industry associations. The guide warns to understand the boundaries of any secondary source and whether more calculation is needed to avoid double counting.
- For each type of intermediate product sold, the process or processes that turn it into a usable final product after you sell it.
- What you need to allocate if the customer adds other inputs, such as mass or economic value.
- Average factors for those processing stages, in emissions per unit of product, for example carbon dioxide per kilogram of final product.
The unit the guide states
Formula 10.2 multiplies the mass of sold intermediate product in kilograms by a factor in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram of final product. The example multiplies 1,000 kilograms of sugar by 1.5 as if each kilogram of sugar became a kilogram of candy (our reading). If your product becomes a final product that is heavier than your input because the customer adds other ingredients, the guide tells you to allocate emissions to the intermediate you sold. It does not spell out the conversion, so check which basis your factor uses before multiplying (our reading). With mass allocation the two bases give the same answer, as the example below shows; economic allocation would differ.
If the end use is unknown
Where a product has many possible downstream uses and you cannot reasonably estimate them, the guide sends you to section 6.4 of the Scope 3 Standard on unknown downstream emissions, and to section 5.6 for whether Category 10 applies to final or intermediate products.
The guide's sugar example, and a check on mass allocation
- Guide: 1,000 kilograms of sugar sold x 1.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per kilogram = 1,500 kilograms CO2e
- Our example, not the guide's: the customer makes 2,000 kilograms of candy from your 1,000 kilograms of sugar and other ingredients
- Processing the whole batch: 2,000 x 1.5 = 3,000 kilograms CO2e
- Your share by mass: 3,000 x (1,000 / 2,000) = 1,500 kilograms CO2e, the same as 1,000 x 1.5
- By economic value the share would differ, which is why the guide points you to Chapter 8 allocation
The 1,000 kilograms and 1.5 are the guide's example values. The two-ingredient batch is our own example. It shows that under mass allocation the guide's simple multiplication already agrees, so it is a consistency check, not a conversion step.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, which covers your own Scope 1 and 2. It does not hold industry processing factors, so take them from a life cycle database or industry association.
- Category 10: processing of sold products
- Category 10 from your customer's own data
- Leaving out downstream intermediate products
- Free calculators
Last reviewed 2026-11-05. The unit observation is our reading of Formula 10.2 and is marked as such.