Waste-Related Emissions

Waste-related emissions include emissions from third-party disposal and treatment of waste generated in your organization’s owned or controlled operations in the reporting year, including the disposal of both solid waste and wastewater.

The emissions from waste treatment at facilities owned or controlled by the reporting company are accounted for in scope 1 emissions. Treatment of waste by third parties generated in an organization’s operations is category 5 upstream scope 3 emissions because waste management services are purchased by the reporting company. Waste-related emissions from end-of-life treatment of sold products is category 12 downstream scope 3 emissions because these emissions are created after the product has been created and distributed to end users.

Depending on the type of waste, these greenhouse gasses are generated.

• CO₂ from degradation of both fossil and biogenic carbon contained in waste

• CH₄ from decomposition of biogenic materials in landfill or Waste-to-Energy (WtE) technologies

• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) from the disposal of refrigeration and air conditioning units

You can calculate emissions from third-party disposal and treatment of waste by using Net Zero Cloud.

• Supplier-specific method, where you collect the waste-specific scope 1 and scope 2 data directly from the waste treatment companies

• Waste-type-specific method, where you use emissions factors for specific waste types and waste treatment methods