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Audit-Ready Carbon Reporting for Household & Personal Products

Track packaging carbon, palm oil sourcing, chemical ingredient emissions, and product use-phase water heating for CPG brands.

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The Industry Hotspot: Packaging Materials and Palm Oil Sourcing

40-50% from packaging materials

For CPG brands, 40-50% of product carbon footprint comes from packaging (plastic bottles, aluminum cans, cardboard boxes). Another 20-30% from raw materials including palm oil (cosmetics, soaps: 2.8 kgCO2/kg including land use change risk). Use-phase emissions vary: shampoo with hot water = 10x product manufacturing. NetNada tracks packaging carbon intensity, validates RSPO-certified palm oil, and calculates use-phase emissions from water heating.

SASB Industry Definition

Household & Personal Products industry entities manufacture a wide range of goods for personal and commercial consumption, including cosmetics, household and industrial cleaning supplies, soaps and detergents, sanitary paper products, household batteries, razors and kitchen utensils. Household and personal products entities operate globally and typically sell their products to mass merchants, grocery stores, membership club stores, drug stores, high-frequency stores, distributors and e-commerce retailers. Some entities sell products through independent representatives rather than third-party retail establishments.

Industry-Specific Carbon Accounting

No generic solutions. Metrics, data sources, and reporting aligned to Household & Personal Products operations.

Packaging Carbon by Material Type

Calculate kgCO2 per product: Shampoo bottle (50g PET = 0.11 kgCO2), Deodorant can (15g aluminum = 0.24 kgCO2), Detergent box (100g cardboard = 0.10 kgCO2). Track % recycled content reducing embodied carbon 30-60%.

Packaging carbon tracked

RSPO Palm Oil Certification Tracking

Import RSPO certificates for palm oil, palm kernel oil, derivatives (sodium laureth sulfate in shampoo). Validate % certified vs conventional. Flag deforestation risk using Trase supply chain mapping.

RSPO certification verified

Product Use-Phase Emissions Modeling

Calculate customer water heating emissions: Shampoo (100ml × 50 uses × 5L hot water/use × 0.15 kWh/L heating × 0.5 tCO2/MWh grid = 1.9 kgCO2 use-phase). Compare across product formats (concentrate vs ready-to-use).

Use-phase carbon calculated

Chemical Ingredient Carbon Footprint

Track ingredient emissions: Surfactants (SLS, SLES), emollients, fragrances, preservatives. Example: Sodium laureth sulfate 3.5 kgCO2/kg. Aggregate across product formula to calculate per-unit ingredient carbon.

Ingredient carbon tracked

SASB CG-HP Metrics Automation

Auto-generate disclosure: % packaging from recycled/renewable sources, % palm oil from RSPO-certified sources, water consumption intensity (m³/tonne product). Footnotes cite RSPO database.

SASB CG-HP compliant

Product Features for Household & Personal Products

Use Carbon Data Uploader to import packaging specifications, ingredient bills of material, and RSPO certificates from PLM systems. Learn more →

The Supplier Portal collects palm oil mill certifications and traceability data from ingredient suppliers—validating deforestation-free sourcing. Learn more →

Related Solutions

Use our Supply Chain Decarbonisation solution to engage packaging and ingredient suppliers on carbon reduction targets.

View solution

Household & Personal Products Case Studies

How entities in this industry use NetNada to solve carbon accounting challenges.

Global Cosmetics Brand ($2B revenue)

Challenge

Retailers demanded product carbon footprint labels showing packaging, ingredients, and use-phase emissions. Had packaging data but no ingredient carbon database.

Solution

Used NetNada ingredient carbon library: surfactants, emollients, preservatives, fragrances. Calculated lipstick carbon: Packaging (15 kgCO2) + Ingredients (8 kgCO2) + Manufacturing (2 kgCO2) = 25 kgCO2 per unit.

Result

Launched carbon labels on 200 SKUs. Identified high-carbon ingredients (synthetic fragrances). Reformulated 15 products reducing carbon 20-30% per unit.

SASB Disclosure Topics for Household & Personal Products

Material sustainability topics beyond emissions that investors and stakeholders expect disclosed per SASB standards.

Packaging Lifecycle Management

environment

Track packaging materials per SKU (plastic, glass, aluminum, paper). Report % recycled content and % recyclable packaging. Monitor packaging weight reduction initiatives.

Palm Oil & Deforestation

environment

Report % of palm oil from RSPO-certified sources. Track sourcing from deforestation-free supply chains. Monitor traceability to mill and plantation.

Water Management in Operations

environment

Track water consumption in manufacturing (cleaning product dilution, cosmetics formulation). Report wastewater treatment and recycling rates. Monitor water stress risk in sourcing regions.

Product Environmental & Social Impacts

social

Report product use-phase water consumption (e.g., laundry detergent water heating). Track microplastic release from cosmetics. Monitor animal testing policies and cruelty-free certifications.

Product Safety & Chemicals Management

governance

Track restricted substance compliance (EU Cosmetics Regulation, California Prop 65). Monitor product recalls and adverse event reports. Report ingredient transparency initiatives.

NetNada tracks all SASB material topics, not just emissions. Our platform supports disclosure across environmental, social, governance, and business model topics relevant to your industry.

Household & Personal Products FAQs

Common questions about carbon accounting for this industry

How do you calculate embodied carbon in plastic packaging?
PET plastic: Virgin PET 2.2 kgCO2/kg, Recycled PET (rPET) 0.5-1.0 kgCO2/kg. HDPE: Virgin 1.9 kgCO2/kg, Recycled 0.5 kgCO2/kg. PP: Virgin 1.7 kgCO2/kg. Example: 50g PET bottle = 0.05 kg × 2.2 kgCO2/kg = 0.11 kgCO2. If 50% recycled content: 0.05 × ((0.5×2.2) + (0.5×0.7)) = 0.07 kgCO2 (36% reduction).
What's the difference between RSPO Mass Balance and Segregated palm oil?
RSPO Segregated = certified palm oil kept physically separate from conventional throughout supply chain. Highest traceability, premium price. Mass Balance = certified and conventional palm oil mixed, company claims credit for certified % purchased. Book & Claim = purchase credits, no physical certified oil. For carbon accounting and deforestation claims, use Segregated or Mass Balance with traceability to mill.
Should we account for product use-phase water heating emissions?
GHG Protocol Scope 3 Category 11 (Use of Sold Products) includes energy consumed during use. Shampoo/soap with hot water: customer energy, report as Scope 3. Cold-water detergent avoids water heating—can claim avoided emissions vs hot-water formula. Disclose assumptions: L water/use, kWh to heat, customer grid mix.
How do you track microplastic emissions from cosmetics?
Microplastics in rinse-off cosmetics (facial scrubs, toothpaste) wash to wastewater. Not CO2 emissions but plastic pollution impact. Report: mg microplastic beads per product × units sold × % entering ocean (after wastewater treatment ~5-20%). Many jurisdictions ban microbeads—report phase-out status and alternative abrasives (jojoba beads, silica).

Track Packaging, Palm Oil, and Product Use-Phase Emissions for CPG

See how household and personal care brands calculate product carbon footprints, validate RSPO sourcing, and meet retailer labeling requirements.

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