Sustainability · 04.3
Our carbon
math.
Short answer
- Virgin HDPE: 1.9 kg CO₂e per kg
- Hot-dip galvanised steel: 2.3 kg CO₂e per kg
- Moulding and assembly energy: 14 kg per unit
- Not third-party verified, and we do not claim it is
Challenge our numbers
The build-up
What a new tote costs the atmosphere
Five lines. The last one is negative because it is what we spend, not what we avoid — and subtracting it is the whole point of publishing this table.
| Component | Quantity | Factor | CO₂e | Source / basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virgin HDPE resin | 115 lb / 52 kg per 275-gal bottle | 1.9 kg CO₂e per kg | 99 kg CO₂e | Cradle-to-gate industry average for HDPE polymerisation and moulding |
| Galvanised steel cage | 60 lb / 27 kg | 2.3 kg CO₂e per kg (incl. galvanising) | 62 kg CO₂e | Primary steel route, hot-dip galvanised |
| Steel pallet base | 38 lb / 17 kg | 2.3 kg CO₂e per kg | 39 kg CO₂e | Same route as cage stock |
| Moulding + assembly energy | per unit | — | 14 kg CO₂e | Blow-moulding, welding, assembly line electricity |
| Reconditioning (what we DO spend) | per unit | — | −88 kg CO₂e | Water heating, caustic, wash-water treatment, yard electricity, average inbound haul |
New-container burden
214 kg
99 + 62 + 39 + 14
Our reconditioning cost
88 kg
Water heating, caustic, effluent treatment, yard power, average haul
Net avoided per unit
126 kg
The only figure we quote elsewhere
Our 88 kg, itemised
Where our own emissions actually go
Reconditioning is not free. Freight is the dominant term, which is exactly why we certified partner yards instead of centralising all volume in Savannah.
| Activity | CO₂e per unit | Share | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inbound and outbound freight | 38 kg | 43% | Network average haul. A 900-mile delivery is materially worse than a 90-mile one |
| Wash water heating | 18 kg | 21% | Natural gas and electric heating to 70 – 82 °C |
| Yard electricity | 12 kg | 14% | Lighting, compressors, pumps, test bay |
| Granulation and baling | 10 kg | 11% | Allocated across all units, not only those recovered |
| Caustic and chemistry | 6 kg | 7% | Net of liquor recovery and re-titration across cycles |
| Buildings and other | 4 kg | 4% | Heating, offices, consumables |
| Total | 88 kg | 100% |
Short answer
- Freight distance is the single biggest lever on our own footprint
- 38 partner yards exist to shorten hauls, not to add capacity
- Freight miles per tote down 41% against our 2019 baseline
- A local as-is tote beats a distant reconditioned one
By grade
Why the three grades differ
| Grade | Avoided | Derivation |
|---|---|---|
| As-is / rinsed | 148 kg | 214 kg new-build burden, minus ~66 kg for collection, light rinse and outbound freight |
| Reconditioned | 126 kg | 214 kg minus the full 88 kg reconditioning cost |
| Rebottled | 64 kg | 214 kg minus 88 kg process, minus 99 kg for the new bottle resin, plus 37 kg credited for the spent bottle recovered as regrind |
| New | 0 kg | Baseline — this is the thing being avoided |
The rebottled line is the one people query most. A new bottle is new plastic; the saving comes from the 44 kg of cage and base steel that stays in service, offset by the resin you still consume. It is a real saving and it is half of what reconditioning achieves — which is why we will push you toward reconditioned whenever your specification permits it.
Limitations
Five things this methodology does not do
Stated up front, because an unqualified number invites exactly the scepticism it does not deserve.
Not a third-party verified LCA
The coefficients are published industry averages. Our unit counts and tonnages come from our own records and certified scale tickets, available for audit. We do not call this verified, because it is not.
No use-phase modelling
We do not model your filling, shipping or use. Those depend on your product and lanes and we have no basis for estimating them.
Averaged freight
The 38 kg freight term is a network average. Your specific unit may be materially better or worse.
±15% coefficient uncertainty
Real HDPE and steel factors move with grid mix, process route and recycled content. We do not quote to three significant figures.
No end-of-life credit beyond recovery
We credit recovered regrind at a conservative 37 kg per bottle. We do not claim avoided-burden credits for displaced virgin resin downstream, which some methodologies do.
No water or land metrics audited
The 92 million gallon water figure is derived from the same industry coefficients. It is indicative, and we label it that way.
Questions
Methodology questions
How did you get to 126 kg CO₂e per reconditioned tote?
Manufacturing a new 275-gallon composite IBC is about 214 kg CO₂e: 99 from 52 kg of virgin HDPE at 1.9 kg CO₂e per kg, 62 from 27 kg of galvanised cage steel at 2.3, 39 from 17 kg of pallet steel, and 14 from moulding and assembly energy. Reconditioning one costs us about 88 kg. 214 minus 88 is 126.
Why publish the number that makes you look worse?
Because a calculator that only counts avoided impact and ignores incurred impact is advertising. The 88 kg we spend on washing, testing and hauling is the most important number on this page — it is what makes the 126 kg defensible rather than promotional.
How accurate are these coefficients?
Within roughly ±15%. They are cradle-to-gate industry averages rather than supplier-specific verified EPDs, and real values move with grid mix, process route and recycled content. We state the uncertainty rather than quoting to three significant figures as if it were measured.
Do you count our use-phase emissions?
No, deliberately. Your filling, shipping and use depend entirely on your product and lanes, and we have no basis for modelling them. We answer one question — what manufacturing did not occur — and we say so explicitly everywhere the figure appears.
Has this been third-party verified?
The coefficients are published industry figures; our unit counts and tonnages come from our own asset records and certified scale tickets, which we make available for audit. We have not commissioned a third-party LCA, and we do not describe our figures as verified. When that changes we will say so on this page.
Sources
Where each coefficient comes from
Published so a reviewer can challenge any individual number rather than the whole result. Two of these have been corrected since 2019.
| Coefficient | Value | Basis | Uncertainty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virgin HDPE, cradle-to-gate | 1.9 kg CO₂e/kg | Industry average for polymerisation plus blow moulding | ±15% |
| Hot-dip galvanised steel | 2.3 kg CO₂e/kg | Primary steel route including galvanising | ±15%, corrected in 2021 |
| Moulding and assembly energy | 14 kg per unit | Blow moulding, welding, assembly electricity | ±20% |
| Regrind recovery credit | 37 kg per bottle | Conservative; excludes downstream displacement | Deliberately low |
| Freight, our network average | 38 kg per unit | Our own tonne-mile records | ±10% |
| Wash water heating | 18 kg per unit | Metered gas and electricity, allocated per unit | ±8% |
| Vehicle miles equivalence | 0.39 kg CO₂e/mile | Standard passenger-vehicle factor | Illustrative only |
| Tree-year sequestration | 21.8 kg CO₂e/tree-year | Standard temperate forestry factor | Illustrative only |
The galvanised steel figure is the one that has caused us the most trouble. We used a cold-rolled coefficient until 2021, which overstated the avoided impact by roughly 9 kg per unit. A customer’s sustainability team found it, and the correction reduced our headline figure.
Sensitivity
Which assumptions actually move the answer
If you want to stress-test the 126 kg figure, these are the four levers worth pulling and what each does.
| Assumption | If it moves | Net avoided becomes | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline: as published | — | 126 kg | Central estimate |
| HDPE coefficient 15% lower | 1.62 kg/kg | 111 kg | The single largest sensitivity |
| Steel coefficient 15% lower | 1.96 kg/kg | 111 kg | Comparable in magnitude |
| Our freight doubles (remote delivery) | 76 kg freight | 88 kg | Still a substantial net win |
| Our freight halves (local delivery) | 19 kg freight | 145 kg | Short hauls materially improve the result |
| No regrind credit claimed at all | — | 126 kg | No effect — it is not in the reconditioned figure |
| Pessimistic on every coefficient | — | ~96 kg | Worst plausible case, still clearly positive |
Short answer
- Even on pessimistic assumptions the result stays clearly positive
- Freight distance is the one variable you and we can both change
- The resin coefficient is the largest single sensitivity
- Nothing in the model depends on a credit we chose to claim
From the Yard Journal
Longer pieces from the people who run the wash line, the test bay and the trading desk.
13 February 2025 · 3 min
Why we publish the 88 kg we spend
Most avoided-emissions figures count only the avoided side. Ours subtracts what reconditioning actually costs us, and that subtraction is the reason the number is usable.
Theo Marsh · Materials & reporting
Read16 May 2024 · 5 min
How we count a tote that never comes back
Attrition in a returnable pool runs 8% to 14% a year. Pretending otherwise produces sustainability numbers that quietly inflate.
Theo Marsh · Materials & reporting
Read
Next move
Found an error? Tell us and we will change the page.
We have corrected this methodology four times since 2019, twice after a customer's sustainability team challenged a coefficient. That is the best possible use of publishing it.