Sustainable Packaging & EPR Compliance worked example

Packaging Carbon Cost at 110% share of emissions in regulatory scope: a worked example

Push share of emissions in regulatory scope up to 110% and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. A sustainability or sourcing team putting a dollar value on packaging emissions for an internal carbon fee or border-adjustment forecast.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Embodied emissions of packaging: 45 tCO2e (unchanged)
  • Carbon price applied: 90 $/tCO2e (unchanged)
  • Share of emissions in regulatory scope: 110 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 100)
  • Footprint accounting and verification fee: 800 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Total carbon cost = emissions x carbon price x in-scope% + verification fee) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 5,255 $ for total packaging carbon cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 117 $ / piece for packaging carbon cost per unit.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 4,455 $ for variable packaging carbon cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 800 $ for fixed packaging carbon cost adder.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where share of emissions in regulatory scope sits at 100% and the headline result is 4,850 $, this scenario comes in 8.35% above the baseline at 5,255 $.
  • It computes the total dollar cost of packaging carbon by pricing in-scope embodied emissions and adding a fixed accounting and verification fee, then divides to a cost per tonne. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • Total packaging carbon cost: 5,255 $ (headline result)
  • Packaging carbon cost per unit: 117 $ / piece
  • Variable packaging carbon cost: 4,455 $
  • Fixed packaging carbon cost adder: 800 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Packaging Carbon Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.