How do I calculate the carbon footprint of fruit jam per kg?

Add fruit pulp, sugar and pectin per kg of jam with supplier figures, then the steam for boiling and concentration, filling and the jars or bottles. Divide the plant's energy by kg packed; glass jars can weigh close to the jam itself.

Ingredients

• Fruit pulp or fruit by weight.
• Sugar, pectin and acidulants.
• Glass jars, PET jars or sachets with caps.

Process

• Steam jacketed kettles or vacuum pans.
• Hot filling and capping.
• Cooling tunnel and labelling.

Per kg

Report per kg of jam, with the pack listed separately so a glass and a plastic pack can be compared.

Worked example: fruit jam unit per kg (one month)

• Electricity: 10,000 kWh x 0.710 = 7,100 kg CO2
• Coal: 15,000 kg x 2.42 = 36,300 kg CO2
• Jam packed (kg): 100,000
• Plant total: 43,400 / 100,000 = 0.434 kg CO2 per kg
• Add fruit, sugar and jars for the full figure

Inputs are illustrative; use your own bills and production records.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads the plant's electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and fuel invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record, the plant-level input to a per-unit figure. Bought-in materials go to the supplier evidence trail; product reports are self-declared drafts.

• Product carbon footprint calculator
• Mango pulp footprint
• Fruit juice footprint
• Glass bottle footprint
• Food processing industry

Sources: GHG Protocol Product Standard, ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults), CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0

Last reviewed 2026-10-20.