Sustainable Packaging & EPR Compliance worked example

Packaging Carbon Cost at 72% share of emissions in regulatory scope: a worked example

Suppose share of emissions in regulatory scope falls to 72%. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Estimate the carbon cost of packaging by pricing its embodied emissions plus footprint verification.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Embodied emissions of packaging: 45 tCO2e (held at the documented default)
  • Carbon price applied: 90 $/tCO2e (held at the documented default)
  • Share of emissions in regulatory scope: 72 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 100)
  • Footprint accounting and verification fee: 800 $ (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Total carbon cost = emissions x carbon price x in-scope% + verification fee.
  • Total packaging carbon cost works out to 3,716 $ at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Packaging carbon cost per unit works out to 82.58 $ / piece at these inputs.
  • Variable packaging carbon cost works out to 2,916 $ at these inputs.
  • Fixed packaging carbon cost adder works out to 800 $ at these inputs.

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 23.38% below the baseline at 3,716 $.
  • 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. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Total packaging carbon cost: 3,716 $ (headline result)
  • Packaging carbon cost per unit: 82.58 $ / piece
  • Variable packaging carbon cost: 2,916 $
  • Fixed packaging carbon cost adder: 800 $

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Packaging Carbon Cost calculator, set share of emissions in regulatory scope to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.