How do I calculate the carbon footprint of HDPE pipe per kg or per metre?
Multiply the resin per metre of pipe by your polymer supplier's per-kg figure. Add the extrusion line's electricity, cooling, printing and coiling, divide plant energy by kg passed, and convert to per metre using the pipe's weight per metre.
Materials
- PE 80 or PE 100 resin by weight; resin is usually most of the total.
- Black masterbatch and any regrind used.
- End caps, coil straps and labels.
Process
- Extruder barrel heaters and screw drive.
- Vacuum sizing tank, cooling baths and chiller.
- Haul-off, cutter and coiler.
Per kg and per metre
Give both, with the pipe's outside diameter and pressure class, since weight per metre rises sharply with both.
Worked example: HDPE pipe plant per kg (one month)
- Electricity: 180,000 kWh x 0.710 = 127,800 kg CO2
- Kg of pipe passed: 400,000
- Plant total: 127,800 / 400,000 = 0.320 kg CO2 per kg
- Add PE resin and masterbatch 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.
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.