# Do we count emissions from disposing of biomass boiler ash?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/biomass-boiler-ash-disposal-emissions

Yes, if you send it away. Trucking the ash and its treatment is Scope 3 Category 5, usually small. Ash given to brick makers or farmers is a by-product, so count only transport. The boiler's methane and nitrous oxide stay in Scope 1.

## Records

- Tonnes of ash removed, from weighbridge slips.
- Who took it and where.
- Truck distance.

## Biogenic CO2

CO2 from burning biomass is reported separately, outside the scopes. Ash disposal does not change that.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads bills, fuel invoices and production records into dated, fingerprinted records, so the figure you send a buyer can be traced to its documents.

- [Biomass fuel still has CH4 and N2O](https://senseible.earth/answers/biomass-boiler-ch4-n2o-still-scope-1)
- [Waste in Category 5](https://senseible.earth/answers/waste-emissions-scope-3-category-5)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2: Energy](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.