# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of an HDPE drum?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/hdpe-drum-carbon-footprint-per-drum

An HDPE drum is mostly resin: multiply the drum weight by the resin supplier's per-kg figure, then add blow moulding, cooling and compressed air electricity. Divide the unit's energy by drums passed.

## Material

- HDPE resin by drum weight.
- Masterbatch and UV stabilizer.
- Caps, bungs and rings.

## Process

- Blow moulding machines.
- Chillers and compressed air.
- Leak testing and stacking.

## Per drum

Report per drum by capacity and weight. Regrind of flash and rejects lowers fresh resin use.

## Worked example: HDPE drum unit per drum (one month)

- Electricity: 60,000 kWh x 0.710 = 42,600 kg CO2
- Drums produced: 30,000
- Plant total: 42,600 / 30,000 = 1.420 kg CO2 per drum
- Add resin 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)
- [Plastic water tank footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/plastic-water-tank-carbon-footprint-per-unit)
- [HDPE pipe footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/hdpe-pipe-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [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.