# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of detergent powder per kg?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/detergent-powder-carbon-footprint-per-kg

Add the surfactants, builders and other ingredients from supplier or database factors, the fuel for the spray-drying tower if you use one, the electricity, the process CO2 released when LABSA is neutralised with soda ash, and the packaging. Divide by kilograms packed. Spray-dried powders use far more fuel than dry-mix powders.

## Spray-dried or dry-mix

Spray-dried powders are made by pumping a slurry into a tower where hot air from a furnace evaporates the water. That furnace is often the largest single source in the plant. Dry-mix or non-tower powders blend dry ingredients with the acid slurry and need much less heat. Report which route each product uses.

## Process CO2 from neutralisation

When linear alkyl benzene sulphonic acid (LABSA) is neutralised with soda ash, CO2 is released: two molecules of LABSA react with one of sodium carbonate and give off one CO2. For C12 LABSA, with a molar mass of about 326 g per mole, that is about 44 / 652 = 0.067 kg CO2 per kg of LABSA neutralised. Soda ash added beyond the reaction stays in the powder as a builder and releases nothing.

## Ingredients

- LABSA or other surfactants: petrochemical, often a large share.
- Soda ash and sodium sulphate: bought-in minerals with their own production emissions.
- Zeolite, enzymes, optical brighteners and perfume.
- Packaging: laminated pouches, HDPE bags and cartons.

## What buyers ask for

1. kg CO2e per kg of powder, cradle to gate, by product.
2. Process route: spray-dried or dry-mix.
3. Packaging weight per pack.

## Worked example: a spray-dried powder plant (one month)

- LABSA neutralised: 150 t, so 150,000 x 0.067 = 10,050 kg CO2
- Furnace oil for the hot air generator: 60,000 litres x 2.97 = 178,200 kg CO2
- Electricity: 90,000 kWh x 0.710 = 63,900 kg CO2
- Powder packed: 1,000 t
- Plant total: (10,050 + 178,200 + 63,900) / 1,000,000 = 0.252 kg CO2 per kg
- Add ingredients and 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.

- [CO2 from soda ash neutralisation](https://senseible.earth/answers/co2-from-soda-ash-or-limestone-neutralisation)
- [Soap footprint per kg](https://senseible.earth/answers/soap-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Product carbon footprint calculator](https://senseible.earth/calculators/product-carbon-footprint)
- [Chemical industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/chemical)

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.