# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a stainless steel kitchen sink?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/stainless-steel-kitchen-sink-carbon-footprint-per-piece

Weigh the stainless steel coil used per sink, including blanking scrap, and multiply by the steel supplier's per-kg figure. Add deep drawing, welding, polishing and packing energy, then divide by sinks passed.

## Material

- Stainless steel sheet by grade and weight.
- Sound pads and coating on the underside.
- Blanking scrap sold back.

## Process

- Hydraulic deep drawing presses.
- Trimming, welding and polishing.
- Cartons and protective film.

## Per piece

Report per sink by bowl size and grade. Stainless steel is most of the total, so the mill's figure matters most.

## Worked example: stainless steel kitchen sink unit per piece (one month)

- Electricity: 20,000 kWh x 0.710 = 14,200 kg CO2
- Sinks passed: 10,000
- Plant total: 14,200 / 10,000 = 1.420 kg CO2 per piece
- Add stainless steel and packing 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)
- [Stainless steel utensils footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/stainless-steel-utensils-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Sheet metal stamping footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/sheet-metal-stamping-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Steel industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/steel)

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.