What is Scope 3 Category 11: Use of sold products?

What are Scope 3 Category 11: Use of sold products?‍

In GHG Protocol terms, Category 11 includes the emissions from the use phase of products sold by your organisation in the reporting year. This typically means modelling the emissions that occur when customers operate, run, or consume your product over its expected life (for example, electricity to power equipment, fuel to operate vehicles, or energy needed to heat water during use).

Category 11 is about use, not disposal. It is different from Scope 3 Category 12 (End-of-life treatment of sold products), which covers emissions once a product reaches end-of-life and is treated as waste. It is also different from Scope 3 Category 1 (Purchased goods and services), which covers upstream emissions from making what you buy, not what customers do with what you sell.

Examples of Scope 3 Category 11: Use of sold products‍

What counts depends on what you sell, but common examples include:

• Electricity used to run sold products (appliances, IT equipment, machinery, medical devices)
• Fuel used during operation (vehicles, generators, equipment that burns fuel)
• Energy to heat water or power processes enabled by the sold product (for example, certain cleaning or heating products)
• Consumables required in use (filters, cartridges, replacements), where the use-phase drives emissions
• Use-phase emissions tied to refrigeration or cooling equipment (where relevant to the product type and method)

How to calculate Scope 3 Category 11: Use of sold products‍

The GHG Protocol calculation guidance for Category 11 is typically activity-based and follows a simple structure:

• Define the use scenario (how the product is used, where, and for how long)
• Estimate lifetime energy or fuel use per unit (or per use cycle)
• Multiply by sales volumes in the reporting year
• Apply relevant emission factors (electricity grid factors by region, fuel factors, etc.)
• Sum across product lines and geographies

In practice, teams often combine data sources:

• Product specifications (rated power, efficiency, duty cycle, expected lifetime)
• Sales volumes by product line and region
• Assumptions or user data (typical usage hours, cycles, maintenance intervals)
• Emission factors for electricity and fuels (region-specific where possible)

How to reduce Scope 3 Category 11: Use of sold products‍

Because Category 11 is driven by how products perform in use, reductions typically come from design and customer enablement, for example:

• Improve energy efficiency: redesign to reduce electricity or fuel demand per use
• Shift to lower-carbon energy: enable electrification where practical, and support renewable electricity use where relevant
• Reduce standby and idle loads: cut always-on consumption
• Extend product life and performance: durability and maintenance can reduce emissions per year of service
• Improve user guidance: simple instructions and default settings that reduce energy and waste in use
• Focus on hotspots: prioritise the product lines with the biggest use-phase impacts first

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