What is the carbon footprint of newsprint per tonne?

Newsprint from recycled fibre needs de-inking and pulping electricity plus steam for drying; newsprint from mechanical pulp uses a great deal of refiner electricity. Add electricity at 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh and boiler fuel, then divide by tonnes of reels.

Records

• Electricity for pulping, refining and the paper machine.
• Boiler fuel for drying steam.
• Waste paper or wood bought in, as Scope 3.
• Tonnes of finished reels.

Publishers

Newsprint is a publisher's largest Scope 3 purchase. Ask the mill for its per tonne figure and fibre source.

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.

• Agro residue paper mill
• Kashipur paper mill boiler

Sources: IPCC 2006 Guidelines, CEA CO2 Baseline Database, GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.