# How do I calculate emissions from construction and demolition waste?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/construction-demolition-waste-emissions-scope-3

For construction and demolition waste you send away, Scope 3, Category 5 is mainly transport, at 2.68 kg CO2 per litre of diesel, plus treatment. Inert concrete and brick do not decay, so they add no landfill methane under IPCC defaults; mixed wood and paper do.

## What to count

- Diesel for trucks taking debris away, from the transporter.
- Treatment at a C&D processing plant, if it reports energy per tonne.
- Mixed waste with wood, paper or plastic sent to landfill.

## Inert waste

Concrete, brick and stone hold no degradable organic carbon, so landfilling them releases no methane by IPCC default. Wood and paper mixed in should be estimated separately.

## Recycling

Debris processed into recycled aggregate is a good outcome to report in tonnes. Any avoided emissions from it are shown separately, never subtracted.

## Worked example: one demolition job (illustrative inputs)

- Debris removed: 200 tonnes in 25 truck trips
- Diesel from the transporter's log: 300 litres x 2.68 = 804 kg CO2
- Disposal of concrete and brick at a designated site: no landfill methane under IPCC defaults
- Category 5 for the project: about 804 kg CO2, plus any wood or paper sent to landfill

Tonnes and litres are illustrative; use the transporter's and processor's records.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible keeps waste manifests, transport invoices and treatment bills as evidence on the Scope 3 trail and reads electricity bills for on-site equipment into Scope 2. Avoided emissions are never subtracted from the inventory.

- [Waste emissions in Scope 3, Category 5](https://senseible.earth/answers/waste-emissions-scope-3-category-5)
- [Office fit-out embodied carbon](https://senseible.earth/answers/office-fit-out-embodied-carbon)
- [Can I deduct recycling avoided emissions?](https://senseible.earth/answers/recycling-avoided-emissions-can-i-deduct)

Sources: [2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 5 Waste, Chapters 2 and 5](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/), [GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard), [Central Pollution Control Board](https://cpcb.nic.in)

Last reviewed 2026-10-21.