How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a urine collection bag?
Weigh the PVC or PE film, tubing, connector and valve per bag and multiply by supplier figures. Add welding, assembly and sterilisation energy, then divide the plant's energy by bags made.
Material
- PVC or PE film.
- Tubing, connector and drain valve.
- Pouch and carton.
Process
- Cutting and radio-frequency welding.
- Assembly.
- Sterilisation, often by ethylene oxide, and packing.
Per bag
Report per bag by capacity and type.
Worked example: plant energy per bag (one month)
- Electricity: 30,000 kWh x 0.710 = 21,300 kg CO2
- Bags made: 500,000
- Plant total: 21,300 / 500,000 = 0.0426 kg CO2 per bag
- Add film, tubing and valve 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 2026-10-21.