# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of tissue paper and napkins?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/tissue-paper-carbon-footprint-per-kg

For a converter, multiply the parent reels by the mill's per-kg figure and add embossing, folding, cutting and packing electricity per kg passed. A tissue mill adds its pulping, Yankee dryer steam and electricity. Drying is usually the largest energy use.

## Mill

- Pulp or recovered paper by weight.
- Yankee dryer and hood: steam and gas.
- Pulpers, refiners and vacuum pumps on electricity.

## Converting

- Parent reels, including trim waste.
- Embossing, folding, log saw and wrapping.
- Poly wraps, cores and cartons.

## Per kg

Report per kg of saleable tissue, and per pack with grammage and ply count.

## Worked example: napkin converter per kg (one month)

- Electricity: 30,000 kWh x 0.710 = 21,300 kg CO2
- Kg of tissue packed: 200,000
- Plant total: 21,300 / 200,000 = 0.106 kg CO2 per kg
- Add the parent reels from the mill 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)
- [Paper mill footprint per tonne](https://senseible.earth/answers/paper-mill-carbon-footprint-per-tonne)
- [Paper industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/paper)

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.