How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a steel barrel?
Multiply the steel sheet per drum by the steel supplier's figure, then add shearing, seam welding, painting and curing energy. Divide the plant's energy by drums passed, stated by capacity.
Material
- Cold rolled steel sheet for body and heads.
- Paint or lining.
- Closures and gaskets.
Process
- Shearing, rolling and seam welding.
- Seaming, beading and leak testing.
- Painting and curing ovens.
Per drum
Report per drum by capacity, often 210 litres, and sheet thickness.
Worked example: steel drum unit per drum (one month)
- Electricity: 40,000 kWh x 0.710 = 28,400 kg CO2
- PNG: 10,000 SCM x 2.05 = 20,500 kg CO2
- Drums produced: 40,000
- Plant total: 48,900 / 40,000 = 1.222 kg CO2 per drum
- Add steel 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.