Product Carbon Footprint (PCF)

A Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) quantifies the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals associated with a product, following life cycle assessment principles but restricted to the single impact category of climate change. It is expressed in kilograms of CO2 equivalent (kg CO2e) per declared or functional unit.

Standards

The two reference standards are ISO 14067, which builds on ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, and the GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard. Both require a clearly defined system boundary, a functional or declared unit, documented data sources and treatment of biogenic carbon.

Cradle-to-gate versus cradle-to-grave

Many PCFs exchanged between companies are cradle-to-gate: they cover raw material extraction, transport and manufacturing up to the factory gate, so that a customer can add the number into its own inventory. Cradle-to-grave footprints add distribution, use and end of life.

Exchange and comparability

Because supply chains need PCFs from thousands of suppliers, industry initiatives such as the PACT Pathfinder Framework and Catena-X define how PCFs are calculated and exchanged in a consistent, machine-readable format. Even so, two PCFs are only comparable when they share the same boundary, allocation choices and background data.

Where Verdatir fits

Verdatir validates PCF submissions against ISO 14067, the GHG Protocol and the PACT methodology, cross-checks emission factors against their sources, and preserves lineage so that a customer’s Scope 3 inventory can trace every number back to its origin.