How do I calculate the carbon footprint of PVA adhesive or white glue?
Weigh the monomers, polymer emulsion, water, fillers and additives per kg of adhesive and multiply each by its supplier's figure. Add reactor heating, stirring and filling energy, divided by kg produced, and the containers.
Materials
- Vinyl acetate monomer or bought PVA emulsion.
- Plasticisers, fillers, preservatives and water.
- Pails, bottles and tubes.
Process
- Emulsion polymerisation reactor with steam or thermic heating.
- Blending, filtration and filling.
- Effluent treatment and chillers.
Per kg
Report per kg of adhesive at its solids content, since a 50% solids glue and a 35% solids glue are not equal.
Worked example: adhesive plant per kg (one month)
- Electricity: 30,000 kWh x 0.710 = 21,300 kg CO2
- PNG: 5,000 SCM x 2.05 = 10,250 kg CO2
- Kg of adhesive filled: 300,000
- Plant total: 31,550 / 300,000 = 0.105 kg CO2 per kg
- Add monomers, fillers and containers 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.