# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of areca leaf plates?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/areca-leaf-plate-carbon-footprint-per-plate

Read the unit's electricity for heated presses, washing and drying, multiply by the grid factor and divide by plates passed. Add collection transport and packing. The leaf is a crop residue, so the press electricity is usually most of the figure.

## Inputs

- Fallen areca sheaths, collected and stored; record the diesel used to collect them.
- Water for washing.
- Shrink film and cartons.

## Process

- Washing and sun or dryer drying.
- Hydraulic or pneumatic presses with heated dies, the main electricity load.
- Trimming, sorting and packing.

## Per plate

Report per plate by size. Rejected plates and trimmings are usually composted, not counted as product.

## Worked example: leaf plate unit per plate (one month)

- Electricity: 6,000 kWh x 0.710 = 4,260 kg CO2
- Collection diesel: 300 litres x 2.68 = 804 kg CO2
- Plates passed: 200,000
- Plant total: 5,064 / 200,000 = 0.0253 kg CO2 per plate
- Add packaging 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)
- [Paper cup footprint per cup](https://senseible.earth/answers/paper-cup-carbon-footprint-per-cup)
- [Thermoformed container per kg](https://senseible.earth/answers/thermoformed-container-carbon-footprint-per-kg)

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.