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Understanding Products Used Emissions Category 4 under ISO 14064-1 covers indirect GHG emissions from products and services purchased or acquired by your organization. This includes the cradle-to-gate emissions embedded in everything your organization buys, the disposal of waste generated, and long-lived capital assets.┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ CATEGORY 4: INDIRECT GHG EMISSIONS FROM PRODUCTS USED │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ ┌─────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ 4.1 CAPITAL GOODS │ │ 4.2 WASTE DISPOSAL │ │ 4.3 PURCHASED GOODS │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ & SERVICES │ │ │ ├─────────────────────┤ ├─────────────────────┤ ├─────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ • Buildings │ │ • Landfill │ │ • Raw materials │ │ │ │ • Machinery │ │ • Incineration │ │ • Components │ │ │ │ • Equipment │ │ • Recycling │ │ • Office supplies │ │ │ │ • Vehicles │ │ • Composting │ │ • Professional │ │ │ │ • IT infrastructure │ │ • Transport │ │ services │ │ │ └─────────────────────┘ └─────────────────────┘ └─────────────────────────┘ │ │ │ │ Cradle-to-gate emissions of all products used by your organization │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Category 4 Subcategories ISO 14064-1 Category 4 is divided into three subcategories:
4.1 Capital Goods Emissions from purchased capital assets with extended useful life: buildings, machinery, vehicles, IT infrastructure.
4.2 Waste Disposal Emissions from disposal and treatment of solid and liquid waste generated at your facilities.
4.3 Purchased Goods Emissions from purchased goods and services consumed within the reporting year.
Key Differences Between Subcategories Aspect 4.1 Capital Goods 4.2 Waste Disposal 4.3 Purchased Goods Type Capital expenditure (CAPEX) Waste treatment Operational expenditure (OPEX) Timeframe Multi-year useful life Generated during operations Consumed within year Examples Buildings, machinery, fleet vehicles Landfill, recycling, composting Raw materials, services, supplies Dcycle API /purchases with expense_type: "capex"/facilities/{id}/wastes/purchases with expense_type: "opex"Amortization Can be spread over useful life No amortization Full in year of purchase
Why Category 4 Matters Category 4 typically represents 40-80% of an organization’s total GHG emissions . For manufacturing companies, purchased goods and capital assets often dominate the carbon footprint. Accurate accounting of Category 4 is essential for:
Understanding your true environmental impact
Identifying emission reduction opportunities
Engaging suppliers on decarbonization
Meeting disclosure requirements (CDP, CSRD, etc.)
Quick Start by Subcategory Category 4.1: Capital Goods Track emissions from long-lived assets purchased by your organization:
# Record a capital good (machinery) capital_good_data = { "description" : "CNC Machining Center - Model X500" , "sector" : "Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c." , "product_name" : "Machinery and equipment n.e.c." , "quantity" : 500000 , # €500,000 acquisition cost "unit_id" : eur_unit[ 'id' ], "country" : "DE" , "purchase_date" : "2024-03-15" , "expense_type" : "capex" , # ⚠️ This makes it Category 4.1 "purchase_type" : "spend_based" , } response = requests.post( "https://api.dcycle.io/api/v1/purchases" , headers = headers, json = capital_good_data, )
→ Full Capital Goods Guide Category 4.2: Waste Disposal Track emissions from waste generated at your facilities:
# Record waste disposal waste_data = { "facility_id" : facility_id, "ler_code" : "150101" , # Paper and cardboard packaging "rd_code" : "R03" , # Recycling "quantity" : 500 , # 500 kg "start_date" : "2024-01-01" , "end_date" : "2024-03-31" , "description" : "Office paper and cardboard waste - Q1 2024" , "total_km_to_waste_center" : 25 , } response = requests.post( f "https://api.dcycle.io/api/v1/facilities/ { facility_id } /wastes" , headers = headers, json = waste_data )
→ Full Waste Disposal Guide Category 4.3: Purchased Goods and Services Track emissions from goods and services consumed within the year:
# Record a purchase (spend-based) purchase_data = { "description" : "IT consulting services Q1 2024" , "sector" : "Computer programming, consultancy and related activities" , "product_name" : "Computer programming, consultancy and related services" , "quantity" : 15000 , # €15,000 spent "unit_id" : eur_unit[ 'id' ], "country" : "ES" , "purchase_date" : "2024-03-15" , "expense_type" : "opex" , # ⚠️ This makes it Category 4.3 (default) "purchase_type" : "spend_based" , } response = requests.post( "https://api.dcycle.io/api/v1/purchases" , headers = headers, json = purchase_data, )
→ Full Purchased Goods Guide Calculation Methods Overview All Category 4 subcategories support multiple calculation methods:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ DATA QUALITY HIERARCHY │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ Level 1: Supplier-Specific Data ─────────────────────────────────── HIGHEST ACCURACY │ │ ├─ EPDs, Product Carbon Footprints, Supplier PCFs │ │ ├─ Accuracy: ±5-15% │ │ └─ Use: custom_emission_factor_id │ │ │ │ Level 2: Activity-Based Data ─────────────────────────────────────── MEDIUM ACCURACY │ │ ├─ Product category + physical quantity (kg, m³, units) │ │ ├─ Accuracy: ±20-40% │ │ └─ Use: quantity + unit_id + sector/product_name │ │ │ │ Level 3: Spend-Based Data ─────────────────────────────────────────── LOWER ACCURACY │ │ ├─ Only monetary value + category │ │ ├─ Accuracy: ±50-100% │ │ └─ Use: quantity (€) + unit_id (€) + sector/product_name │ │ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Emission Factor Sources Subcategory Primary Source Secondary Sources 4.1 Capital Goods Exiobase 3.8.2 (spend-based), Ecoinvent (activity-based) Manufacturer EPDs 4.2 Waste Disposal IPCC Guidelines for National GHG Inventories National waste databases 4.3 Purchased Goods Exiobase 3.8.2 (spend-based), Ecoinvent (activity-based) Supplier EPDs/PCFs
Query Category 4 Emissions Get a complete picture of your Category 4 emissions:
import requests import os headers = { "Authorization" : f "Bearer { os.getenv( 'DCYCLE_API_KEY' ) } " , "Content-Type" : "application/json" , "x-organization-id" : os.getenv( "DCYCLE_ORG_ID" ), "x-user-id" : os.getenv( "DCYCLE_USER_ID" ), } # Query Category 4.1 (Capital Goods) capital_goods = requests.get( "https://api.dcycle.io/api/v1/purchases" , headers = headers, params = { "expense_type" : "capex" , "start_date" : "2024-01-01" , "end_date" : "2024-12-31" , }, ).json() # Query Category 4.2 (Waste) wastes = requests.get( f "https://api.dcycle.io/api/v1/facilities/ { facility_id } /wastes" , headers = headers, params = { "start_date" : "2024-01-01" , "end_date" : "2024-12-31" , }, ).json() # Query Category 4.3 (Purchased Goods) purchased_goods = requests.get( "https://api.dcycle.io/api/v1/purchases" , headers = headers, params = { "expense_type" : "opex" , "start_date" : "2024-01-01" , "end_date" : "2024-12-31" , }, ).json() # Calculate totals cat41_total = sum (p[ 'co2e' ] for p in capital_goods.get( 'items' , [])) cat42_total = sum (w.get( 'co2e' , 0 ) for w in wastes.get( 'items' , [])) cat43_total = sum (p[ 'co2e' ] for p in purchased_goods.get( 'items' , [])) cat4_total = cat41_total + cat42_total + cat43_total print ( f "📊 ISO 14064-1 Category 4: Products Used (2024)" ) print ( f "" ) print ( f " 4.1 Capital Goods: { cat41_total :>12,.0f } kg CO₂e ( { cat41_total / cat4_total * 100 :.1f } %)" ) print ( f " 4.2 Waste Disposal: { cat42_total :>12,.0f } kg CO₂e ( { cat42_total / cat4_total * 100 :.1f } %)" ) print ( f " 4.3 Purchased Goods: { cat43_total :>12,.0f } kg CO₂e ( { cat43_total / cat4_total * 100 :.1f } %)" ) print ( f " ─────────────────────────────────────────" ) print ( f " TOTAL CATEGORY 4: { cat4_total :>12,.0f } kg CO₂e" )
Best Practices ISO 14064-1 Category 4 Best Practices
Start with spend-based : Get comprehensive coverage quickly, then improve accuracyIdentify hotspots : Focus on top 10-20 emission sources for data improvementEngage suppliers : Request EPDs/PCFs from key suppliers (top 20% by emissions)Track waste streams : Ensure all waste types are captured with treatment methodsUse activity data : Provide physical quantities when available for better accuracyReview annually : Update emission factors and methodologies yearly Comparison with GHG Protocol ISO 14064-1 Category 4 maps to several GHG Protocol Scope 3 categories:
ISO 14064-1 GHG Protocol Scope 3 Category 4.1 (Capital Goods) Category 2 (Capital Goods) Category 4.2 (Waste Disposal) Category 5 (Waste Generated in Operations) Category 4.3 (Purchased Goods) Category 1 (Purchased Goods and Services)
Next Steps
Category 5: Products Sold Account for emissions from product use by customers
Category 3: Transportation Track transportation and business travel emissions
Back to ISO 14064 Tutorial Return to the main ISO 14064 tutorial
Custom Emission Factors Create and manage supplier EPDs/PCFs
