Is packaging inside my product footprint under the Partnership for Carbon Transparency (PACT) method, or reported on its own?

Both. PACT says packaging emissions, whether primary, secondary or tertiary, should be included in the product footprint unless they fall below the exemption rules. If included, packaging should be visible in the product description, and its emissions should be reported separately. Its biogenic carbon content may also be reported.

Three kinds of packaging, in everyday terms

PACT names all three. The biogenic carbon content it mentions is plant-based carbon, for example in paper or wood.

• Primary: the wrapper touching the product, such as a pouch or bottle.
• Secondary: what holds several of those, such as a carton.
• Tertiary: what moves them in bulk, such as a pallet and its stretch film.

In or out

The default is in. Packaging is left out only if it falls below the exemption rules, which cap everything you leave out at under 3% in total. If you include it, say so in the product description, and show the packaging figure on its own line as well.

Which records answer it

• Purchase invoices for cartons, film, pouches and pallets, with weights per unit.
• A bill of materials from the packing line.
• A factor per kilogram of each material from your database or from the packaging supplier.

One pouch of spice mix, example numbers

• Pouch: 0.018 kilograms (kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Carton share: 0.020 kg. Pallet and wrap share: 0.012 kg
• Packaging total: 0.018 + 0.020 + 0.012 = 0.050 kg per unit
• Product without packaging: 1.200 kg. With packaging: 1.200 + 0.050 = 1.250 kg
• Packaging share: 0.050 / 1.250 = 4.0%. On its own that is above 3%, so it cannot be left out

Numbers are examples. That 4% on its own would break the 3% total limit is our reading of the exemption rule.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records. Packaging quantities come from your own records. Senseible builds figures in the PACT exchange format as a custom integration, on request.

• How to leave out small inputs under PACT
• What to send when a buyer asks for a product footprint
• Two PACT figures with and without biogenic uptake

Sources: PACT Methodology Version 3.0, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

Last reviewed 2026-11-07. Rule is from PACT Methodology 3.0, section 3.3.1.1. The plain-words meanings of primary, secondary and tertiary are ours.