# How do we count the varnish and polish used on wooden products?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/wood-varnish-and-polish-scope-3

Varnish, lacquer and polish you buy are Scope 3 Category 1, by litres or kilograms bought and a supplier or database factor. Solvent that evaporates in your shop is not counted as CO2 in Scope 1 unless it is burnt, for example in a fume incinerator.

## Count

- Litres of varnish, lacquer and thinner bought.
- Factor per litre or kg, with source.

## Solvent fumes

Fumes are an air quality issue. If an incinerator burns them, its fuel and the solvent carbon become Scope 1.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads bills, fuel invoices and production records into dated, fingerprinted records, so the figure you send a buyer can be traced to its documents.

- [Wooden furniture footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/wooden-furniture-carbon-footprint-per-piece)
- [Car body shop paint solvents](https://senseible.earth/answers/car-body-shop-paint-solvents-carbon-count)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard), [GHG Protocol Corporate Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.