Scope 3 Emissions
Scope 3 emissions are the indirect greenhouse-gas emissions across a company's value chain, everything outside its own operations (Scope 1) and purchased energy (Scope 2). The GHG Protocol organizes them into 15 categories spanning upstream suppliers and downstream products.
For most distilleries Scope 3 is the largest part of the footprint, and within it purchased goods dominate: the grain grown for the mashbill and the glass made for bottles. Other material categories include upstream fuel and energy, inbound and outbound transport, waste, and end-of-life of packaging. Because Scope 3 is calculated from supplier and activity data rather than a single meter, it depends on tracking grain, packaging, and logistics volumes and applying cited emission factors to them.
What are the 15 Scope 3 categories?
The GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain Standard defines 8 upstream categories (purchased goods and services, capital goods, fuel and energy activities, upstream transport, waste, business travel, employee commuting, upstream leased assets) and 7 downstream categories (downstream transport, processing of sold products, use of sold products, end-of-life treatment, downstream leased assets, franchises, investments). A reporter estimates the categories material to its business.
Why does Scope 3 dominate a distillery footprint?
The biggest emissions sources for spirits sit outside the plant walls: growing grain is land- and energy-intensive, and manufacturing glass is one of the most carbon-heavy materials in the supply chain. Together they typically make up the majority of Scope 3, which is why a credible footprint cannot report Scope 3 as zero.
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