# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a mobile charger?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/mobile-charger-carbon-footprint-per-piece

Add the circuit board, transformer, plastic housing and cable per charger with supplier figures, then add assembly, ultrasonic welding and testing electricity. Divide the unit's energy by chargers passed and report by output wattage.

## Bought-in parts

- Assembled board with transformer and capacitors.
- Plastic housing and pins.
- USB cable if bundled.

## Assembly

- Board fitting and soldering.
- Ultrasonic welding of the housing.
- Safety and load testing, blister or box packing.

## Per piece

Report per charger by wattage, and state whether the cable is included.

## Worked example: mobile charger unit per piece (one month)

- Electricity: 15,000 kWh x 0.710 = 10,650 kg CO2
- Chargers passed: 300,000
- Plant total: 10,650 / 300,000 = 0.0355 kg CO2 per piece
- Add board, housing and cable 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)
- [PCB assembly footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/pcb-assembly-carbon-footprint-per-board)
- [Injection moulding footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/injection-moulding-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Automobile industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/automobile)

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.