# Can I use my supplier's product carbon footprint inside my own product footprint?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/can-i-use-my-suppliers-product-footprint

Yes, and it is usually better than an average factor, provided it fits your footprint. Check that it covers cradle to the supplier's gate, uses the same allocation and GWP rules as yours, refers to the same unit you buy, and is recent. Then multiply it by the quantity you use per unit of your product.

## Five checks before you plug it in

1. Boundary: cradle-to-gate at the supplier's factory gate. A cradle-to-grave figure includes use and disposal you would then count twice.
2. Declared unit: per kg, per piece or per square metre. Convert to the unit you buy, using the supplier's own weights.
3. Method: ISO 14067, the GHG Protocol Product Standard or the PACT methodology. Allocation and recycled content rules should be compatible with yours.
4. Gases and GWP: CO2e on the same IPCC assessment report values as your footprint, or a note of the difference.
5. Date and site: the reference period and the plant that made your parts, not a group average from another country.

## Add transport separately

A cradle-to-gate figure stops at the supplier's gate. Freight from there to your factory is a separate step in your own footprint; count it once.

## When to say no

If you reject it, use an average factor and record that the supplier figure was reviewed and not used, and why.

- The supplier cannot say what the figure includes.
- It is a corporate total divided by tonnes sold, not a product footprint.
- It is far below any published range for that material and the supplier cannot explain why, for example by renewable electricity or recycled input with evidence.

## Record the data quality

Note for each supplier figure whether it was third-party verified, its reference period and its share of your total. Buyers using the PACT framework expect this, and it shows where better supplier data would change your result most.

## Worked example: a supplier's aluminium part

- Supplier PCF: 8.0 kg CO2e per kg of part, cradle-to-gate (illustrative)
- Part weight in your product: 2.5 kg
- Supplier share: 2.5 x 8.0 = 20.0 kg CO2e
- Your own processing and other materials: 3.0 kg CO2e (illustrative)
- Product total cradle-to-gate: 20.0 + 3.0 = 23.0 kg CO2e per unit, before inbound freight

If the supplier had quoted 8.0 kg CO2e per piece, multiplying by 2.5 kg would have overstated the part by 2.5 times; check the unit first.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible keeps supplier invoices in its Scope 3 evidence trail and uses a supplier's own factor first when one is held for that material. Combining supplier footprints into your product footprint is your calculation; Senseible does not check a supplier's PCF method.

- [Product carbon footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/product-carbon-footprint)
- [PACT Pathfinder Framework explained](https://senseible.earth/answers/pact-pathfinder-framework-explained)
- [Product carbon footprint calculator](https://senseible.earth/calculators/product-carbon-footprint)

Sources: [ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products](https://www.iso.org), [GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard (2011)](https://ghgprotocol.org/standards), [WBCSD PACT Pathfinder Framework and Technical Specifications](https://www.wbcsd.org)

Last reviewed 2026-10-15.