# How does a PET recycler count the hot wash line's steam and power?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/pet-recycler-hot-wash-line-steam-and-power

Count the boiler fuel that makes the wash steam as Scope 1 and the line's grid power as Scope 2, then divide both by kg of flake washed. Caustic soda and detergents are purchased goods in Scope 3.

## Steps

Boiler fuel per month x its factor (PNG 2.05 kg CO2 per scm, coal or diesel by IPCC default).

Line kWh x 0.710.

Divide the total by kg of clean flake.

## Shared boiler

If the boiler also serves other lines, split steam by a meter or by hours, and record the split.

## Worked example: one day (illustrative quantities)

- Line power: 5,200 kWh x 0.710 = 3,692 kg CO2
- Flake washed: 8,000 kg
- Power per kg: 3,692 / 8,000 = 0.462 kg CO2, before boiler fuel

Quantities are illustrative.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and diesel, LPG and gas invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a dated, fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record for each site. Intensity per unit uses the activity count you enter, and estimates are labelled as estimates.

- [PET flake per kg](https://senseible.earth/answers/pet-bottle-recycling-flakes-carbon-per-kg)
- [PET bale transport](https://senseible.earth/answers/pet-recycler-bale-transport-scope-3)
- [rPET recycled content claim](https://senseible.earth/answers/rpet-flake-buyer-recycled-content-claim)

Sources: [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html), [GHG Protocol Corporate Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-21.