# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a poultry processing plant per kg?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/poultry-processing-carbon-footprint-per-kg

Add the plant's electricity, boiler fuel and refrigerant top-ups for a period and divide by kg of dressed product packed. Add the live birds from the farm's own figure, which is usually most of the total, and the packaging.

## Plant

- Scalding water heating and boiler fuel.
- Chilling, blast freezing and cold storage electricity.
- Refrigerant top-ups, counted from kg recharged times the gas's GWP.

## Inputs

- Live birds per kg of dressed product, with the farm's figure.
- Trays, film and cartons.
- Effluent treatment and rendering of by-products.

## Per kg

Report per kg dressed, and say how emissions were shared with by-products such as feathers and offal.

## Worked example: processing plant per kg (one month)

- Electricity: 120,000 kWh x 0.710 = 85,200 kg CO2
- PNG: 10,000 SCM x 2.05 = 20,500 kg CO2
- Kg of dressed product packed: 400,000
- Plant total: 105,700 / 400,000 = 0.264 kg CO2 per kg
- Add live birds and packaging 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)
- [Cold storage emissions per tonne](https://senseible.earth/answers/cold-storage-emissions-per-tonne)
- [Shrimp processing footprint per kg](https://senseible.earth/answers/shrimp-processing-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Food processing industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/food-processing)

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.