How do I calculate the carbon footprint of plastic toys?
Weigh each polymer in the toy, such as ABS, PP or PVC, and multiply by its supplier's per-kg figure. Add moulding, assembly, painting and packing energy, divide plant energy by kg passed, and add batteries or electronics separately.
Materials
- ABS, PP, PE or PVC by weight per toy, plus runners not reground.
- Paint, printing and stickers.
- Batteries, motors and circuit boards for electronic toys.
Process
- Injection or blow moulding machines.
- Assembly, painting and pad printing.
- Window boxes, blister packs and cartons, often heavier than expected.
Per kg and per piece
Report per kg for a range and per piece for a buyer's SKU. Packaging can be a large share for small toys.
Worked example: toy factory per kg (one month)
- Electricity: 60,000 kWh x 0.710 = 42,600 kg CO2
- Kg of toys passed: 40,000
- Plant total: 42,600 / 40,000 = 1.065 kg CO2 per kg
- Add polymers, paint and packaging 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.