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Definition

Scope 3 Category 5: Waste generated in operations Definition

Scope 3 Category 5 covers emissions from third-party disposal and treatment of solid waste and wastewater generated by your owned or controlled operations during the reporting year.

What is Scope 3 Category 5: Waste generated in operations?

Category 5 includes emissions from third-party treatment of solid waste and wastewater produced by operations you own or control during the reporting year. Treatment at your own facility belongs in Scope 1 and Scope 2 instead. The GHG Protocol counts emissions that will occur later, such as landfill methane, when they result from waste generated in the reporting year.

Why does Scope 3 Category 5 matter to you?

CDP 2026 question 7.8 asks for gross global Scope 3 emissions and explanations for excluded categories. A customer may ask for your Category 5 total and the records used to calculate it. For covered Australian reporters, AASB S2 paragraph 29(a)(vi)(1) asks which of the 15 GHG Protocol categories are included. Keep waste invoices, hauler reports, tonnes, treatment methods, factor records, and exclusions.

How is Scope 3 Category 5 calculated?

Use emissions the waste contractor has allocated to treating your company's waste when that figure is available. Otherwise multiply each waste quantity by a factor matching both waste type and treatment. Record landfill, composting, recycling, incineration, or another documented treatment separately. If you know the tonnes but not how the waste was treated, you cannot choose a defensible factor. If waste types are unknown, apply average factors by treatment share and state the limitation.

What mistakes should you avoid?

  • Including waste from sold products, which belongs in Category 12.
  • Using one factor across landfill, composting, recycling, and incineration.
  • Subtracting avoided emissions from recycling from the Category 5 total.

Is recycled operational waste still in Category 5?

Yes. Report treatment emissions for recycling in Category 5. Do not claim a negative inventory value for avoided virgin-material production.

What should you send when a customer asks for Category 5?

Send the reporting period, boundary, waste types, tonnes, treatment methods, contractor records, factor source and year, calculation file, exclusions, and any proxy explanation.

Example

Suppose a packaging manufacturer in Turkey records 12 tonnes of commercial and industrial waste sent to a third-party landfill in 2026. For a first estimate, it uses Keslio factor key waste_commercial_industrial_landfill_desnz_2026: 520.58023 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per tonne (kg CO2e/tonne), from UK DESNZ and DEFRA, UK Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting 2026. The company records that the UK factor is a stand-in for Turkey and replaces it when a suitable Turkey-specific factor becomes available.

12 tonnes x 520.58023 kg CO2e/tonne = 6,246.96 kg CO2e rounded to two decimals. Divide by 1,000 to report 6.25 metric tonnes CO2e, also rounded to two decimals.

Where it comes up

GHG Protocol Category 5 boundary for third-party treatment of operational solid waste and wastewaterCorporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, chapter 5, Category 5Official sourceGHG Protocol Category 5 supplier-specific, waste-type-specific and average-data methodsTechnical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions, Category 5, formulas 5.1-5.3Official sourceAASB S2 disclosure of included Scope 3 categories, including Category 5 waste generated in operationsAASB S2 paragraph 29(a)(i)(3), paragraph 29(a)(vi)(1), and Appendix A

Related terms

Scope 3 Emissions

Scope 3 emissions are the indirect greenhouse gas emissions from goods, services, transport, product use, investments, and other upstream and downstream activities outside your company's Scope 1 and Scope 2 boundary.

Emission factor

An emission factor converts a measured activity, such as kilowatt-hours of electricity or litres of fuel, into greenhouse gas emissions by stating the emissions released per unit of that activity.

Carbon Accounting

Carbon accounting is the process of defining a company’s greenhouse gas inventory, collecting activity data, applying emission factors, and reporting Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions on a consistent basis.

Sources

  • GHG Protocol

    Category 5 boundary, third-party treatment, future emissions and reporting by Scope 3 category

    2026-08-19

  • GHG Protocol

    Category 5 supplier-specific, waste-type-specific and average-data methods; formulas 5.1-5.3; recycling treatment

    2026-08-19

  • Australian Accounting Standards Board

    Paragraph 29(a) Scope 3 disclosure and Appendix A identification of waste generated in operations as Category 5

    2026-08-19

Last verified 2026-08-19

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Scope 3 Category 5: Waste generated in operations Definition | Keslio