# What is the carbon footprint of newsprint per tonne?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/newsprint-paper-carbon-footprint-per-tonne

Newsprint from recycled fibre needs de-inking and pulping electricity plus steam for drying; newsprint from mechanical pulp uses a great deal of refiner electricity. Add electricity at 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh and boiler fuel, then divide by tonnes of reels.

## Records

- Electricity for pulping, refining and the paper machine.
- Boiler fuel for drying steam.
- Waste paper or wood bought in, as Scope 3.
- Tonnes of finished reels.

## Publishers

Newsprint is a publisher's largest Scope 3 purchase. Ask the mill for its per tonne figure and fibre source.

## 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.

- [Agro residue paper mill](https://senseible.earth/answers/agro-residue-paper-mill-biogenic-co2)
- [Kashipur paper mill boiler](https://senseible.earth/answers/kashipur-paper-mill-agro-residue-boiler)

Sources: [IPCC 2006 Guidelines](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/), [CEA CO2 Baseline Database](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-database/?lang=en), [GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.