How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a tube of toothpaste?
Add the paste ingredients per tube, such as calcium carbonate or silica, sorbitol and surfactant, with supplier figures. Add the laminate tube, cap and carton, then mixing, filling and packing electricity divided by tubes filled.
Materials
- Abrasive (calcium carbonate or silica), humectants and binders.
- Flavour and active ingredients.
- Laminate tube, cap and carton.
Process
- Vacuum mixing.
- Tube filling and sealing.
- Cartoning and case packing.
Per tube
Report per tube by grams. The carton and tube can be a large share for small packs.
Worked example: toothpaste unit per tube (one month)
- Electricity: 15,000 kWh x 0.710 = 10,650 kg CO2
- Tubes filled: 500,000
- Plant total: 10,650 / 500,000 = 0.0213 kg CO2 per tube
- Add ingredients, tube and carton 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.