# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of an adult diaper?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/adult-diaper-carbon-footprint-per-piece

Weigh the fluff pulp, superabsorbent polymer, non-wovens, backsheet and elastics per piece and multiply by supplier figures. Add converting line energy, then divide the plant's energy by pieces made.

## Material

- Fluff pulp and superabsorbent polymer.
- Non-woven top sheet and PE backsheet.
- Elastics, tapes and adhesive.

## Process

- Fluff defibering and core forming.
- Laminating layers on the converting line.
- Cutting, folding and packing.

## Per piece

Report per piece by size and weight. Pulp and superabsorbent usually make up most of the figure.

## Worked example: plant energy per piece (one month)

- Electricity: 80,000 kWh x 0.710 = 56,800 kg CO2
- Pieces made: 2,000,000
- Plant total: 56,800 / 2,000,000 = 0.0284 kg CO2 per piece
- Add pulp, superabsorbent and non-wovens 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.

- [Product carbon footprint calculator](https://senseible.earth/calculators/product-carbon-footprint)
- [Baby diaper footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/baby-diaper-carbon-footprint-per-piece)
- [Sanitary napkin footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/sanitary-napkin-carbon-footprint-per-pad)
- [Paper industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/paper)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Product Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/standards), [ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org)](https://www.iso.org), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html), [CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-database/?lang=en)

Last reviewed 2026-10-21.