CCF vs. PCF

“With CCF and PCF, companies can identify the biggest emission drivers and reduce them effectively.”

Introduction

Terms such as Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF) and Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) play a central role in corporate sustainability. But what do they mean in concrete terms and how can companies benefit from the calculations?

We passed these and other questions on to Jessica Sieber. As one of our sustainability experts, she provides an understandable introduction and shows why these concepts are so relevant right now.

What is a CCF?

The corporate carbon footprint (CCF) provides information about a company’s total greenhouse gas emissions over a certain period of time, usually one year. These emissions are generated both directly within the company, for example through production processes and the company fleet, and indirectly along the value chain, such as through the use of products from other companies and their disposal.

When calculating the CCF, emissions are divided into three categories, known as scopes:

• Scope 1 includes all direct emissions that originate from sources within the company, such as emissions from company vehicles and heating systems.
• Scope 2 includes indirect emissions from the purchase of energy, such as electricity and district heating, which are generated outside the company.
• Scope 3 covers all other indirect emissions that occur along the entire value chain, such as emissions from purchased preliminary products,

Business trips and the use and disposal of products by customers.
The calculation is based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard, whereby the emissions are converted into CO₂ equivalents (CO₂e) in order to create a uniform measure for the various greenhouse gases.

What is a PCF?

In contrast, the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) focuses on the greenhouse gas emissions of individual products or product lines. It looks at the life cycle phases that a product goes through: raw material procurement, production, transportation, use and disposal. Recognized standards for calculating the PCF are the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard and ISO14067.

When calculating the PCF, various system boundaries are defined in order to record the emissions. The most common approaches are cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave:

• Cradle-to-gate takes into account emissions from raw material extraction to the factory gate.
• Cradle-to-grave covers the entire life cycle of a product, from the extraction of raw materials to production, transportation, use and disposal.

As part of the system boundaries, the so-called “functional unit” must also be defined in advance. The functional unit describes the benefit of the product under investigation and the basis to which the results of the PCF are related. Examples of a functional unit could be: a 500 ml bottle of mineral water, wearing a T-shirt 80 times or a small car with a mileage of 200,000 km.

Two PCFs can only be compared with each other if they have the same system limits.

Challenges in the calculation of CCF and PCF

One of the key challenges many companies face when calculating their carbon footprints is the often limited availability of reliable data. In such cases, it is advisable to begin by focusing on easily accessible data, such as energy bills and vehicle mileage records. Harder-to-obtain values can initially be estimated using proxies—such as monetary values, internal estimates, or industry benchmarks.
For companies that are just beginning their sustainability journey, we recommend gradually adapting internal structures for data collection and management. This helps reduce the effort required for future carbon assessments over time. Of course, we are here to provide guidance and support throughout this process.

How companies benefit from CCF and PCF calculations

The CCF calculation provides companies with a comprehensive overview of the emissions of their entire value chain. They can see which items have particularly high emissions, known as hotspots, and respond to them with targeted reduction measures. This is particularly important for the development of a comprehensive sustainability strategy. However, stakeholders are also increasingly demanding transparent disclosure of the emissions generated.

The PCF enables the emissions of individual products to be determined and product comparisons to be made, provided the same system boundaries have been selected. As with the CCF, hotspots can also be taken from the balance sheet. This information can be used in development to make products more efficient and lower in emissions. This can have a positive influence on the purchasing decisions of environmentally conscious customers. Another advantage of the PCF for companies is that the results can be used for parts of the CCF after the calculation. This saves time and money on the next accounting exercise.