# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a nylon zipper?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/nylon-zipper-carbon-footprint-per-piece

Add the nylon coil, tape and slider per zipper with supplier figures. Add coil forming, tape weaving, dyeing and assembly energy, then divide the plant's energy by zippers packed and report by length and gauge.

## Materials

- Nylon monofilament for the coil.
- Polyester tape.
- Zinc alloy or plastic slider and stops.

## Process

- Coil forming and sewing to tape.
- Dyeing with steam.
- Cutting, slider fitting and packing.

## Per piece

Report per zipper by length and gauge, the way garment buyers order them.

## Worked example: nylon zipper unit per piece (one month)

- Electricity: 20,000 kWh x 0.710 = 14,200 kg CO2
- PNG: 2,000 SCM x 2.05 = 4,100 kg CO2
- Zippers packed: 2,000,000
- Plant total: 18,300 / 2,000,000 = 0.00915 kg CO2 per piece
- Add nylon, tape and sliders 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)
- [Denim jeans footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/denim-jeans-carbon-footprint-per-pair)
- [Backpack footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/backpack-carbon-footprint-per-piece)
- [Zinc die casting footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/zinc-die-casting-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Textile industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/textile)

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.