How do I calculate the carbon footprint of synthetic rope per kg?
A synthetic rope is mostly polymer: multiply the resin or yarn per kg of rope by your supplier's per-kg figure. Add extrusion, twisting and braiding electricity and packing, then divide the plant's energy by kg of rope dispatched.
Material
- Polypropylene, nylon or polyester granules or yarn by weight.
- Masterbatch and UV additives.
- Process scrap reground or sold.
Process
- Monofilament or tape extrusion lines.
- Twisting, stranding and braiding machines.
- Coils, reels and packing.
Per kg
Report per kg of rope by polymer. Recycled granules usually carry a lower per-kg figure than virgin resin, so name the source.
Worked example: synthetic rope unit per kg (one month)
- Electricity: 60,000 kWh x 0.710 = 42,600 kg CO2
- Rope dispatched (kg): 80,000
- Plant total: 42,600 / 80,000 = 0.532 kg CO2 per kg
- Add polymer and packing 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.