What Counts As Scope 3 Emissions?
- Aug 31, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 22
If you're starting to measure your carbon footprint, you've probably come across the term Scope 3 emissions.
For many businesses, Scope 3 emissions make up the largest proportion of their overall carbon footprint. They're also often the most difficult to measure because they come from activities outside of your direct control.
The good news is that you don't need to know everything from day one.
Understanding what counts as Scope 3 emissions is the first step towards building more accurate carbon reporting and identifying where improvements can be made.
Today we'll explain what Scope 3 emissions are, what activities they include, and how businesses can begin measuring them with confidence.
What Are Scope 3 Emissions?
Scope 3 emissions are the indirect greenhouse gas emissions created throughout your value chain.
Unlike Scope 1 emissions, which come from sources you own or control, or Scope 2 emissions, which relate to purchased electricity, Scope 3 emissions are generated by activities connected to your business.
Although these emissions aren't produced directly by your organisation, they're still a result of how your business operates.
For many organisations, Scope 3 emissions account for the majority of their total carbon footprint.
What Counts As Scope 3 Emissions?
Scope 3 emissions can come from many different areas of your business.
Some of the most common examples include:
Purchased goods and services
Supplier deliveries and transportation
Business travel
Employee commuting
Waste generated during operations
Distribution and logistics
Leased assets
Employee home-working (where applicable)
Use and disposal of products
Not every category will apply to every organisation, so don't worry if some of these aren't relevant to your business.
The important thing is identifying the activities that have the biggest impact on your carbon footprint.
Why Are Scope 3 Emissions Difficult To Measure?
Unlike your electricity bills or company fuel usage, Scope 3 emissions often rely on information from other people.
For example, you may need data from suppliers, contractors or logistics providers to understand the emissions associated with the products and services you purchase.
Some organisations also need information from employees, such as commuting patterns or business travel records.
Because this data comes from multiple sources, it can take time to collect and organise.
That's why many businesses begin with estimated data before gradually replacing it with more accurate information as their reporting develops.
Which Scope 3 Emissions Should You Measure First?
Trying to measure every Scope 3 category at once can feel overwhelming.
Instead, it's often best to focus on the areas that are likely to have the biggest impact.
For many businesses, a good place to start includes:
Business travel
Employee commuting
Purchased goods and services
Supplier transportation
Waste management
Once you've established a reporting process for these areas, you can gradually expand your reporting as more data becomes available.
Starting small makes the process much more manageable while still providing valuable insight into your carbon footprint.
How Can You Improve Scope 3 Reporting?
Improving Scope 3 reporting is all about building better data over time.
Some simple ways to improve reporting include:
Working more closely with suppliers
Collecting business travel data regularly
Recording employee commuting information
Keeping supplier records organised
Replacing estimated figures with actual data where possible
Using carbon reporting software to centralise your information
Remember, Scope 3 reporting doesn't need to be perfect from the beginning.
Small improvements made consistently will help you build more accurate reporting year after year.
How Carbon Reporting Software Can Help
Managing Scope 3 emissions manually can quickly become complicated.
Information often comes from invoices, suppliers, travel records and multiple departments, making it difficult to keep everything organised.
Carbon reporting software helps bring this information together in one place, making it easier to collect supplier data, monitor emissions and build more accurate reports over time.
Instead of relying on multiple spreadsheets, businesses can centralise their environmental data and gain a clearer understanding of where their biggest emission hotspots are.
Scope 3 Emissions FAQ
What are Scope 3 emissions?
Scope 3 emissions are indirect greenhouse gas emissions that occur throughout your value chain. They include activities such as supplier emissions, business travel, employee commuting and waste.
What counts as Scope 3 emissions?
Common Scope 3 emissions include purchased goods and services, transportation, business travel, employee commuting, waste, logistics and supplier activities.
Why are Scope 3 emissions important?
For many organisations, Scope 3 emissions represent the largest share of their overall carbon footprint. Measuring them provides a more complete understanding of environmental impact and helps identify opportunities to reduce emissions.
Are Scope 3 emissions mandatory to report?
Reporting requirements vary depending on your organisation, the reporting framework you're following and any applicable regulations. Many businesses choose to measure Scope 3 emissions voluntarily as part of improving their sustainability reporting, while others may have reporting obligations under specific frameworks.
Build Better Scope 3 Reporting
Scope 3 emissions can seem complicated at first, but they don't have to be.
By understanding which activities contribute to your indirect emissions and improving your data collection over time, you can build more accurate reporting and make better sustainability decisions.
Whether you're measuring emissions across your business or working with suppliers to improve environmental reporting, taking the first step is often the most important.
Scope Carbon Tracking Solutions helps businesses collect, organise and report Scope 3 emissions with confidence, making sustainability reporting simpler as your organisation grows.
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