Few shops bid for public contracts, but plenty of retail and ecommerce businesses are asked for carbon figures: suppliers to the public sector, brands selling through large retailers, and groups large enough to report under SECR. The footprint of your own operations is fairly quick to measure. Here is what goes into it.
Who asks for it
- Public sector buyers of goods, such as uniforms, equipment and supplies, on contracts above £5 million a year under PPN 006, and NHS buyers under the NHS supplier rules.
- Large retailers and marketplaces asking the brands they stock for emissions data, because those products are their biggest Scope 3 category.
- Your own annual report, if you are a quoted company or a large unquoted company or LLP under SECR.
Where retail and ecommerce emissions come from
| Source | Scope | What to collect |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity for shops, warehouses and offices you run | Scope 2 | Bills in kWh, or your landlord's recharge in kWh |
| Gas heating | Scope 1 | Bills in kWh |
| Refrigerant leaks from chillers, freezers and air conditioning | Scope 1 | Service records: gas type and kilograms topped up |
| Your own delivery vans | Scope 1 | Fuel cards in litres, or mileage by van class |
| Couriers, hauliers and fulfilment warehouses you pay for, inbound and outbound | Scope 3, category 4 | Parcel counts, weights and distances, or the carrier's figures |
| Packaging waste, returns you dispose of and general waste | Scope 3, category 5 | Waste contractor reports, by material and treatment |
| Area managers' travel and buying trips | Scope 3, category 6 | Mileage claims, flights and hotel bookings |
| Staff getting to shops and warehouses | Scope 3, category 7 | A commuting survey, scaled to headcount |
| Delivery of your goods that you don't pay for | Scope 3, category 9 | Estimates, where you can make them |
Which government conversion factors apply
Use the DESNZ UK electricity and Fuels factors for your buildings, Refrigerant & other for leaks, Delivery vehicles for your own vans, and Freighting goods for couriers and hauliers when you have weights and distances. Waste disposal covers cardboard, plastic film and general waste. The Material use factors can estimate the emissions of the packaging you buy, if a customer asks for it.
Boundary questions and common mistakes
- Counting courier deliveries twice. A parcel delivered by a courier you pay is category 4. Don't add it to category 9 as well.
- Missing sites. Pop-ups, concessions in department stores and storage units all count if you run them. Keep a list of sites and when they opened and closed.
- Spend-based guesses for couriers. Most carriers can tell you parcel counts and weights, which give a much better figure than a value per £ spent.
- Website hosting. It is a purchased service, category 1, and not part of a PPN 006 plan, though a buyer may ask about it.
Reductions buyers recognise
- LED lighting and controls in stores and warehouses;
- doors on chilled cabinets, and lower-impact refrigerants;
- electric vans for local deliveries, or carriers that offer them;
- lighter, right-sized and recyclable packaging;
- consolidating orders and offering slower, lower-carbon delivery options;
- a renewable electricity tariff across your sites.
How Carbon Recycling handles it
Add your shops, warehouses and offices as sites, import energy, refrigerant, courier and waste data from a spreadsheet, and Carbon Recycling applies the matching DESNZ factor to every line. Freight can be entered as weight and distance by vehicle type, or as the figure your carrier gives you. The same footprint produces your PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan and, if you need one, your SECR report, and on the Growth plan you can ask your own suppliers for the emissions behind what they sell you.
Download the free Carbon Reduction Plan template, check SECR with the SECR checker, convert energy with the kWh to CO2e calculator, or see prices.