How do I calculate the carbon footprint of printing ink per kg?
Weigh each raw material per kg of ink, such as pigments, resins, solvents, oils and additives, and multiply by supplier figures. Add mixing, milling and filling electricity divided by kg produced. Pigments and resins are usually most of the total.
Materials
- Pigments and carbon black.
- Resins, varnishes and vegetable or mineral oils.
- Solvents and additives, and the cans or drums.
Process
- High speed dispersers and bead or triple roll mills.
- Filtration and filling.
- Solvent recovery, if fitted, and warehouse power.
Per kg
Report per kg by ink type, since solvent-based, water-based and UV inks have very different recipes.
Worked example: ink plant per kg (one month)
- Electricity: 40,000 kWh x 0.710 = 28,400 kg CO2
- Kg of ink filled: 200,000
- Plant total: 28,400 / 200,000 = 0.142 kg CO2 per kg
- Add pigments, resins and solvents 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
- Dye and pigment footprint per kg
- Paint footprint per litre
- Chemical 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.