# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of an IV fluid bottle?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/iv-fluid-bottle-carbon-footprint-per-bottle

Add the plastic bottle, closure, salts and water treatment per bottle, then the blow-fill-seal machine electricity and steam for terminal sterilisation. Divide the plant's energy by bottles released and report by volume.

## Materials

- Polypropylene or LDPE granules for the bottle.
- Sodium chloride, dextrose and other salts.
- Closures, labels and cartons.

## Process

- Water for injection plant.
- Blow-fill-seal machines.
- Autoclave sterilisation with steam, then inspection.

## Per bottle

Report per bottle by millilitres. Water for injection and sterilisation steam are large energy uses, so meter them.

## Worked example: IV fluid bottle unit per bottle (one month)

- Electricity: 80,000 kWh x 0.710 = 56,800 kg CO2
- PNG: 20,000 SCM x 2.05 = 41,000 kg CO2
- Bottles released: 1,000,000
- Plant total: 97,800 / 1,000,000 = 0.0978 kg CO2 per bottle
- Add polymer, salts and packing 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)
- [Pharma formulation footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/pharma-formulation-carbon-footprint-per-1000-tablets)
- [Oral liquid medicine footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/oral-liquid-medicine-carbon-footprint-per-bottle)
- [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.