How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a PPE coverall?

Weigh the non-woven or laminated fabric per coverall and multiply by its supplier figure, then add zips, elastic and tape. Add cutting, stitching and seam sealing electricity, divide by coveralls passed and add packing.

Material

• Polypropylene non-woven or laminated fabric by weight.
• Zip, elastic and seam sealing tape.
• Pouch and carton.

Making

• Cutting.
• Stitching and seam sealing machines.
• Folding, packing and sterilising if required.

Per piece

Report per coverall with its fabric weight in GSM and size. The fabric usually carries most of the footprint.

Worked example: PPE coverall unit per piece (one month)

• Electricity: 10,000 kWh x 0.710 = 7,100 kg CO2
• Pieces produced: 100,000
• Plant total: 7,100 / 100,000 = 0.0710 kg CO2 per piece
• Add fabric and trims 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.

• Product carbon footprint calculator
• Surgical mask footprint
• Non-woven bag footprint
• Surgical gloves footprint
• Textile industry

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.