Standards To Gauge Carbon Footprints

Standardized methods released last week can guide businesses in calculating and reporting the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their products. The World Business Council on Sustainable Development and the think tank World Resources Institute, which developed these methods, say these standards are intended to increase competitive advantage and drive innovation. Dawn Rittenhouse, DuPont’s director of sustainability, tells C&EN that the new, international standards are important to her company because customers are increasingly asking about the carbon footprint of products. One of the standards accounts for emissions associated with all of a company’s products throughout the value chain, from suppliers to customers. The second is for calculating emissions linked to a particular product, from extraction of raw materials through manufacture and use to disposal. The new standards are available at wri.org/news/live.