Ślad węglowy produktu w dodatkach gumowych

Carbon footprint data is increasingly requested in tenders, and increasingly compared without checking whether the two numbers mean the same thing.

What the boundary defines

A product carbon footprint is only meaningful with its boundary stated. Common variants: cradle-to-gate (raw material through to the factory gate) and cradle-to-grave (including use phase and end of life). For chemical intermediates, cradle-to-gate is the usual basis. Two numbers calculated on different boundaries are not comparable.

What drives the footprint of a rubber additive

• •Feedstock origin and its own upstream emissions.
• •Energy source and efficiency in synthesis and drying.
• •Yield and process integration — by-product utilisation changes the allocation result substantially.
• •Transport mode and distance to the point of delivery.

Bio-based content is not the same as lower footprint

Renewable content is measured as biobased carbon content, which is a different metric from greenhouse gas emissions. A product can have high renewable content and a footprint that is not lower than the fossil reference once process energy and land-use effects are accounted for. Ask for both numbers separately.

What to ask for

• •The standard or methodology used.
• •The declared boundary.
• •Whether the figure is third-party verified or self-declared.
• •The functional unit — per kilogram of product, or per kilogram of active substance.

Treat any footprint number without a stated boundary as indicative only. ## Need the documents or today's price? Send us the grade, quantity and destination port — we return a quotation with COA and MSDS attached. Email manager@fipolymer.com or use the inquiry form on this site.