Product carbon footprint: measure, validate and reduce your emissions through LCA

Do you need to calculate a product’s carbon footprint, respond to a customer request, compare different solutions, prepare for regulatory requirements or identify your main opportunities for emissions reduction?

A carbon footprint figure is only useful if it is based on consistent system boundaries, representative data and a methodology suited to your objectives.

At WeLOOP, we draw on our expertise in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to assess product carbon footprints, delivering robust, understandable and actionable results to support your decision-making.

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OUR FAQ

How can you use your carbon footprint to guide your decisions?

From quantifying emissions to making informed decisions. We help you understand what drives your product’s carbon footprint and identify the reduction opportunities that really matter.

Respond to a Customer Request

Your customers or clients require carbon footprint data for your products or value chain.

Anticipate Regulatory Requirements

You need to prepare for new environmental calculation, reporting or communication requirements.

Compare Different Solutions

You want to compare materials, suppliers, technologies, processes or end-of-life scenarios.

Reduce
Your Emissions

You need to identify the life cycle stages that contribute most to climate change so you can prioritise your actions.

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Why is product carbon footprint assessment based on LCA?

A product’s carbon footprint is one of the indicators derived from Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a methodology that evaluates its environmental impacts throughout its entire life cycle.

LCA

Life Cycle Assessment studies A Multi-Criteria Approach Across the Entire Life Cycle

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Multiple Impact Categories

Ressources Water Acidification Climate Change Carbon footprint Eutrophication Other Environmental Impacts

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CO₂eq

Carbon footprint Résultat exprimé en kg CO₂eq

Why choose WeLOOP for your carbon footprint assessment?

We support you in calculating your carbon footprint, drawing on our expertise in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Our approach combines scientific rigour, an understanding of your industrial challenges and actionable results to drive meaningful change.

Expertise Grounded in LCA

An LCA-based approach to assessing greenhouse gas emissions across the entire life cycle of your products and services.

Results to Help Reduce Your Emissions

Identifying the main sources of emissions and assessing improvement scenarios to help you prioritise your emissions reduction actions.

Support Tailored to Your Objectives

A study tailored to your sector, available data and specific needs: eco-design, comparison of solutions or environmental communication.

A product’s carbon footprint is one of the indicators derived from Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a methodology that evaluates its environmental impacts throughout its entire life cycle.

Bilan carbone, carbon footprint, LCA: how do they differ?

These terms are often used interchangeably, even though they do not always refer to the same scope or serve the same purpose. We have prepared an article to clarify the differences and explain the main standards and frameworks associated with each.

READ OUR ARTICLE

What requirements must your carbon footprint
Meet?

Carbon footprint assessments are based on general standards and frameworks, but some sectors also have their own specific requirements.

General Standards and Frameworks

Methodological Framework for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Standard Dedicated to Product Carbon Footprint Assessment

International Standard for Calculating Emissions Across the Product Life Cycle

Votre secteur impose-t-il ses propres règles ?

Specific Calculation and Reporting Rules for Certain Categories of Batteries

Learn more

The construction sector is subject to several French and European regulatory frameworks that are progressively incorporating LCA, carbon footprint assessments and environmental declarations for products and buildings. Carbon footprint regulations…

Key Legislation and Regulations to Know:

New Construction Products Regulation (CPR): Regulation (EU) 2024/3110
It applies to construction products placed on the European Union market and strengthens the integration of LCA-based environmental characteristics, particularly climate change impacts, as well as digital product passports.
RE2020
French environmental regulations require a building Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and impose carbon emission thresholds for buildings within their scope.
EPBD / DPEB : Directive (UE) 2024/1275
It introduces requirements to calculate and disclose the life cycle global warming potential of new buildings, with a phased rollout across the European Union.
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/52
It establishes a common European framework for calculating the global warming potential of new buildings, with the aim of harmonising national methodologies.
French Regulations on Environmental Declarations
It governs environmental declarations for construction and decoration products and building equipment when environmental claims are made.

Please note: the CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) and the EU ETS (EU Emissions Trading System) may also apply to certain materials and industrial activities in the sector, particularly manufacturing and imports. However, they complement the regulatory frameworks directly related to LCA for products and buildings.

International Standard for Calculating Emissions Across the Product Life Cycle

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How does WeLOOP calculate your product’s carbon footprint?

Define the Objective

Clarify the purpose and intended use.

Define the Scope

Establish the study framework.

Collect Data

Gather the necessary information.

Model the Life Cycle

Build the Product LCA Model.

Calculate the Carbon Impact

Quantify emissions in kg CO₂eq.

Interpret the Results

Understand the main contributors.

Use the Results

Compare, Reduce and Decide.

Carbon results that inform your decisions

DECIDE

Compare

A material, supplier, process or scenario.

ACT

Reduce

Identify key emission sources and quantify the potential impact of the proposed

ANTICIPATE

Eco-design

Use the results from the design stage to guide decision-making.

HIGHLIGHT

Communicate

Provide clear, documented data tailored to customer requirements, tender submissions or environmental communications.

SPEAK TO AN EXPERT

What if carbon didn't tell the whole story?

Reducing a product’s carbon footprint is essential. However, improvements in climate impact can sometimes lead to an increase in other environmental impacts.

Multi-criteria LCA enables the assessment of a wide range of environmental impacts (resource use, water use, acidification, eutrophication, etc.) and helps ensure that decisions do not simply shift impacts from one category to another.

Discover Our Environmental LCA Expertise

Essential questions about product carbon footprints

A product carbon footprint measures the greenhouse gas emissions associated with a product across all or part of its life cycle. The result is generally expressed in kg CO₂e and helps identify the life cycle stages, materials or processes that contribute most to climate change.

A product carbon footprint focuses exclusively on climate change impacts. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), on the other hand, can assess multiple categories of environmental impact. A product carbon footprint therefore follows an LCA-based approach, but focuses specifically on greenhouse gas emissions.

A product carbon footprint focuses on a product or service and assesses the emissions associated with its life cycle. A bilan carbone is generally carried out at the organisational level to quantify direct and indirect emissions over a given period.

The main references are ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, which provide the framework for Life Cycle Assessment, and ISO 14067, which specifically addresses product carbon footprints. The GHG Protocol Product Standard is also an internationally recognised reference for this type of assessment.

However, these general standards and frameworks may be supplemented by sector-specific or regulatory methodologies applicable to certain products. The choice of methodology must therefore take into account the product being assessed, its sector, the target market and the intended use of the results.

The calculation may draw on data relating to raw materials, energy, manufacturing processes, transport, use and end-of-life. The quality of the results depends in particular on how representative these data are and how well they align with the scope of the assessment.

The scope depends on the study’s objectives, the product, the sector and the intended use of the results. It may cover the entire life cycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life, or only certain stages. The scope must be defined at the outset to ensure that the results are relevant and actionable.