# What emission factor should I use for stainless steel sheet or coil I buy?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/emission-factor-for-purchased-stainless-steel

Use the mill's EPD or footprint for the exact grade, because nickel content drives the result. Without one, use a published grade average, such as worldstainless data for 304 or 316, and label it as a global average. Do not use a carbon steel factor for stainless.

## Why grade matters so much

- 300 series, such as 304 and 316, contain about 8% to 14% nickel; 316 adds molybdenum. Nickel production is energy intensive, so these grades carry the highest footprints.
- 200 series, widely used in India for utensils, replace much of the nickel with manganese, which usually lowers the footprint, though manganese alloys add their own.
- 400 series ferritic grades, such as 430, have little or no nickel.
- Scrap share: mills melting more stainless scrap in electric arc furnaces need less virgin nickel and chromium.

## Steps to pick the factor

1. Ask the mill or service centre for an EPD or product footprint for the grade and form, with its year and boundary.
2. If none, use a grade average published by worldstainless and record the edition.
3. Label it as a global average. We found no Indian public grade-level average; if your mill has one, it beats the global figure.
4. Add processing you buy in, such as cold rolling or polishing, only if the factor stops before it.

## Match units and weight

Factors are per kg or per tonne of product. Use the weight on the invoice, including offcuts, for Scope 3 Category 1. A utensil maker's finished product footprint is a different calculation; this page covers only the purchased material.

## Worked example: a month of 304 and 202 coil (assumed factors)

- 304 coil: 8 t x 5.0 t CO2e per t (assumed for the arithmetic) = 40 t CO2e
- 202 coil: 12 t x 3.5 t CO2e per t (assumed for the arithmetic) = 42 t CO2e
- Total Category 1 for stainless: 40 + 42 = 82 t CO2e

Both factors are placeholders to show the method. Replace them with the mill's EPD or a published grade average.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible records stainless purchase lines with their invoice quantity in a separate supplier evidence trail, where a mill's EPD can sit beside the invoice.

- [Stainless utensils: carbon per kg](https://senseible.earth/answers/stainless-steel-utensils-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Emission factor for steel you buy](https://senseible.earth/answers/emission-factor-for-purchased-steel-india)
- [No emission factor for a material](https://senseible.earth/answers/no-emission-factor-for-material)

Sources: [ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products](https://www.iso.org), [GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard (2011), Ch. 7 data collection and quality](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-18. No Indian public grade-level factor was found as of October 2026; check for mill EPDs and new worldstainless editions.