Why does a Partnership for Carbon Transparency (PACT) request ask for two footprint figures, with and without biogenic uptake?

PACT asks for two cradle-to-gate figures so buyers using different rules can compare. One excludes biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake and treats plant carbon held in the product as zero. The other includes it, counting minus 1 kilogram (kg) of CO2 per kg taken up. The gap between them is the carbon dioxide taken up into the product.

Biogenic, in plain words

Biogenic carbon comes from plants and other living things, as opposed to coal, oil and gas. A tree is like a bank: it deposits carbon as it grows and withdraws it when the wood rots or burns.

The two ways of keeping the books

For a cradle-to-grave view the two give the same total. PACT stops at your gate, so the difference shows. If you report the figure including uptake, PACT says to make sure the end-of-life release is calculated, which is outside PACT.

• Neutral approach: deposit and withdrawal cancel, so the carbon in the product counts as zero. The European Commission's Product Environmental Footprint method uses it. PACT uses it for the figure excluding uptake.
• Minus 1 and plus 1 approach: the deposit counts as minus 1 kg per kg now, and the release at the end of life counts as plus 1. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard 14067 (2018) uses it. PACT uses it for the figure including uptake.

What else goes with them

PACT says to report the biogenic carbon content and total carbon content of the product, so the user can account for what happens at disposal.

A paper tray, example numbers

• Biogenic carbon held in one tray: 0.30 kg of carbon
• As CO2: 0.30 x 44 / 12 = 1.10 kg of uptake
• Emissions making it, all fossil in this example with no other biogenic emissions: 0.80 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)
• Figure excluding uptake: 0.80 kg. Figure including uptake: 0.80 minus 1.10 = minus 0.30 kg CO2e per tray

Numbers are examples. CO2 means carbon dioxide, CO2e carbon dioxide equivalent. The 44 / 12 is the weight of carbon dioxide per unit weight of carbon, our own step and not from the PACT text. A negative figure is possible when the uptake is large.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records. The plant carbon held in your product is not read from bills. Senseible builds figures in the PACT exchange format as a custom integration, on request.

• Leaving out the biogenic and land part
• Packaging under PACT
• What PACT is and who needs it
• Cradle-to-gate or cradle-to-grave

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 and Box 4. Check which of the two figures your buyer wants first.