# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of aluminium sheet per tonne?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/aluminium-sheet-carbon-footprint-per-tonne

Most of the footprint is in the metal: multiply the ingot, slab or scrap per tonne of sheet by the supplier's figure. Add remelting, hot and cold rolling and annealing energy, then divide the mill's energy by tonnes dispatched.

## Metal

- Primary ingot or slab, or scrap, by weight.
- Melting and casting losses.
- Edge trim and process scrap remelted.

## Rolling

- Remelting and casting furnaces, if used.
- Hot and cold rolling mills.
- Annealing furnaces and slitting.

## Per tonne

Report per tonne with the recycled share. Primary aluminium made with coal power carries a much higher figure than recycled metal, so name the source.

## Worked example: aluminium sheet unit per tonne (one month)

- Electricity: 400,000 kWh x 0.710 = 284,000 kg CO2
- PNG: 60,000 SCM x 2.05 = 123,000 kg CO2
- Tonnes dispatched: 1,000
- Plant total: 407,000 / 1,000 = 407.0 kg CO2 per tonne
- Add metal 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)
- [Aluminium extrusion footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/aluminium-extrusion-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Aluminium foil container footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/aluminium-foil-container-carbon-footprint-per-piece)
- [Aluminium industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/aluminium)

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 2026-10-20.