What emission factor should I use for purchased PP, HDPE and PVC resin in Scope 3?

Use your resin supplier's cradle-to-gate product footprint for the exact grade first. If you do not have one, use a published industry-average eco-profile for that polymer as a labelled proxy, and cite its edition and region. Never mix virgin and recycled resin factors.

The order of preference

The GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard prefers supplier-specific data for Category 1 and asks you to describe the data quality of every factor you use.

1. Supplier-specific: a cradle-to-gate footprint from the polymer producer for the grade you buy, with its year and method.
2. Product-specific database value for the same polymer and region, with the dataset name and edition.
3. Industry-average eco-profile from another region, labelled as a proxy.
4. Spend-based estimate, only when you have no quantities, labelled with wider uncertainty.

Why a European figure is only a proxy

Most widely used polymer eco-profiles describe European production. Indian polymers are made from different feedstocks and on a grid with a different factor, and PVC needs chlorine, made by electrolysis, so its figure moves with the electricity behind it. Use a European profile when nothing better exists, take the cradle-to-gate GWP per kg from the current PlasticsEurope eco-profile report for that exact polymer, write the edition year, and mark it as a proxy for Indian resin.

Finding resin lines in your purchases

• HSN 3901: polymers of ethylene in primary forms; HDPE is 3901 20.
• HSN 3902: polymers of propylene; PP is 3902 10.
• HSN 3904: polymers of vinyl chloride; PVC is 3904 10.
• Masterbatch, additives and recycled granules sit under other codes or descriptions; give them their own factors.

Checks before you apply a factor

• Units: kg CO2e per kg of resin, cradle-to-gate. Do not use a figure that includes end of life.
• Quantity: resin bought in the year for Category 1, not resin used in production.
• Recycled resin: use a recycled-content factor only with evidence of the recycled share.

Worked example: a moulder's annual resin purchases (illustrative inputs)

• PP 100 t at an illustrative proxy of 1.6 kg CO2e/kg = 160 t CO2e
• HDPE 50 t at an illustrative proxy of 1.8 kg CO2e/kg = 90 t CO2e
• PVC 30 t at an illustrative proxy of 2.0 kg CO2e/kg = 60 t CO2e
• Category 1 resin total: 160 + 90 + 60 = 310 t CO2e, all proxy-based
• If the PP supplier provides 1.4 kg CO2e/kg: 140 + 90 + 60 = 290 t CO2e, with 48% of the total now supplier-specific

All four factors are illustrative inputs to show the arithmetic, not quoted eco-profile values. Replace them with the figures from the edition you cite or your supplier's footprint.

What Senseible does here

Senseible classifies resin purchase lines by HSN chapter 39 into the Scope 3 evidence trail, with quantities and suppliers. A figure needs a factor you approve for that material, a supplier footprint, or a labelled spend-based estimate.

• Injection moulding footprint per kg
• No emission factor for a material
• Recycled content in a product footprint

Sources: GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, Category 1, ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (data quality)

Last reviewed 2026-10-18. Eco-profile editions are revised every few years; check the current PlasticsEurope eco-profile for PP, HDPE and PVC, cite its edition, and look for an Indian producer footprint.