# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a folding carton?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/folding-carton-carbon-footprint-per-kg

Take the board mill's figure for the duplex or SBS board, add inks, varnish, lamination film and adhesive, then add printing, coating, die cutting and gluing energy per kg of cartons dispatched.

## Material

- Duplex, SBS or FBB board.
- Printing inks and varnish or UV coating.
- Lamination film, foil and glue if used.

## Process

- Offset printing.
- Coating or lamination.
- Die cutting, stripping and folder gluing.

## Per kg

Report per kg, or per carton by size and board weight. Lamination and foil add to the board figure.

## Worked example: plant energy per kg (one month)

- Electricity: 30,000 kWh x 0.710 = 21,300 kg CO2
- Kg dispatched: 50,000
- Plant total: 21,300 / 50,000 = 0.426 kg CO2 per kg
- Add board, ink and coatings 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.

- [Product carbon footprint calculator](https://senseible.earth/calculators/product-carbon-footprint)
- [Corrugated box footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/corrugated-box-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Offset printing footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/offset-printing-carbon-footprint-per-tonne-of-print)
- [Printing ink footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/printing-ink-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Paper industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/paper)

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 2026-10-21.