EN1.3.7
Material Use
Environment
- Measuring GHG Emissions
Material Use
These are emissions factors (usually expressed as kg CO₂e per tonne) that help estimate the carbon impact of materials a company procures (i.e. buys and uses), based on how those materials were produced.
If a material is made from primary sources (i.e. virgin/raw materials), the conversion factor accounts for:
- Extraction (mining, logging, etc.)
- Primary processing (turning raw resources into usable materials)
- Manufacturing (making the final product)
- Transportation to the buyer
- It stops at the point of sale – it does not cover what happens when the material is used or discarded.
If a material is made from secondary sources (i.e. recycled materials), the conversion factor includes:
- Sorting (separating recyclable materials from waste)
- Processing (cleaning and preparing them for reuse)
- Manufacturing and transportation
- Again, it ends at the point of sale.
These factors help organisations:
- Quantify efficiencies from using fewer materials (e.g., less packaging or thinner cans).
- Show the environmental benefit of choosing recycled materials over primary ones (because recycled materials generally have lower emissions).
- Make procurement decisions that align with sustainability goals.
This value links to the Master Value EN1 GHG Emissions value.
Key Value
£252 per tCO2e or 25.2p per kgCO2e
The monetised value of CO2 emissions for material use
- Construction: Average construction: £19 per tonne
- Organic: Compost derived from food and garden waste: £29 per tonne
- Metal: mixed cans: £1287 per tonne
- Plastic: average plastics: £797 per tonne
- Paper and board: mixed: £323 per tonne
This value represents a cost or disbenefit through the creation of the GHGs emitted.
Conversion factors should be used to report Scope 3 emissions for material use. For more information about principles for GHG accounting and reporting and three “scopes” of emissions, please visit MeasureUp EN1 GHG Emissions value.
According to the 2021 carbon values from DESNZ/BEIS, Carbon values in £2020 prices per tonne of CO2: central series for 2023 is £252 per tCO2e or 25.2p per kgCO2e. For more information, please visit MeasureUp GHG Emissions value.
UK government’s Greenhouse Gas Conversion Factors – 2024 reports the kgCO2e for material use for different activities and materials. Access the data.
| Primary material production* | ||||
| Activity | Material | Unit | kg CO2e | Monetised Value |
| Construcion | Average construction | tonnes | 74.88652 | £19 |
| Organic | Compost derived from food and garden waste | tonnes | 114.83347 | £29 |
| Metal | Metal: mixed cans | tonnes | 5105.63851 | £1287 |
| Plastic | Plastics: average plastics | tonnes | 3164.78049 | £797 |
| Paper | Paper and board: mixed | tonnes | 1282.74402 | £323 |
*The materials are made from virgin stock.
Please visit the government conversion factors for greenhouse gas reporting website for further guidance.
This value represents a cost or disbenefit through the creation of the GHGs emitted. The value should therefore not be presented as a positive value or added to an overall social value figure.
Local Needs Analysis Data Source
Before using this MeasureUp value, we encourage you to assess the local need in relation to the activity or outcome.
Here is the most useful initial data source for assessing local need in relation to this value.
To do a local needs analysis for material use, use the Local Authority Consumption Account tool which allows you to view and compare Carbon Footprint for localities across the UK.
You can generate graphs that shows the different type of material emissions for different UK regions at different points in time. You can view emissions for a single region or compare multiple regions, broken down by different categories and subcategories, with the option to switch between per capita and total emissions figures. When comparing multiple regions, per capita tends to be a more useful measure.
Bronze
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
At the Bronze level, you should calculate the approximate CO2 emissions from material use. Represent the cost or disbenefit of the emissions from consumption of procured materials based on their origin.
Silver
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
At the Silver level, you should calculate the emissions by activity, by type of material based on their origin, as each produces different levels of carbon emissions. Represent the cost or disbenefit of the emissions from consumption of procured materials based on their origin.
Gold
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
At the Gold level, you would be expected to
- Measure more accurately using more specific data for you in-scope activities.
- Track the emissions over time. Steps in tracking emissions (choosing a base year and recalculating base year emissions) are explained in detail in the GHG Protocol Chapter 5 – Tracking Emissions Over Time
Gold+
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
In the Gold+ level of GHG emission values, you can focus on better management and improvement of your reporting on the GHG emissions.
| Value Type: | Activity |
What's this?
This is the type of value. Some values are outcomes, which means many different interventions might lead to them, while others are specific interventions that have a set value. |
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| UN SDG Categories: |
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What's this?
The UN Sustainable Development Goals are global goals adopted in 2015 for all signed up nations to achieve for us to have a sustainable global future by 2030. There are 17 Goals that address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The Goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030. |
| 2020 Social Value Models: |
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What's this?
PPN 06/20 Taking account of social value in the award of central government contracts introduced the Central Government Social Value Model in 2020 which all Central Government contracting authorities must use in their in scope procurements. It consists of 5 themes, 8 policy outcomes, and 24 Model Award Criteria which outline key priority areas to achieve more social value. |
| 2025 Social Value Models: |
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What's this?
PPN 06/20 was superseded by PPN 002 Taking account of social value in the award of contracts, published in February 2025 in line with the Royal assent of the Procurement Act 2023. This PPN outlined the requirement to use the new 2025 Central Government Social Value Model. The Model applies to all Central Government procurements commencing on or after 1 October 2025 under the Procurement Act 2023. Out of scope procurements can choose to apply the model but are not required to do so. The updated model is structured around 5 government missions and 8 outcomes, with 17 Model Award Criteria, and a mandatory minimum 10% weighting of the total evaluation score assigned to social value. |
Evidence
Measure Up focuses on empowering you to numerically measure the impact you’re having. We recommend that numeric reports are backed up with stories and other types of evidence to help illustrate, in human terms, the impact that’s being made on individuals.
We recommend seeing consent from one or more participants in your intervention to collect and tell their story. This should include a little background on the participant, a summing up of life before the intervention, the human impact of the intervention, and the longer term (if known) impact on the person’s life outside of, and after, the intervention.
Providing photographs, audio recordings, video interviews or even artefacts from the intervention (for example, writing, paintings, music, etc from creative interventions) can add more colour, and convey the emotional impact of interventions more directly.
In some cases it’s appropriate to anonymise or abbreviate the personal information of case study participants. No story should be published or shared without the recorded consent of the individual(s) it concerns. Individuals continue to own the rights to their stories and if they request you stop sharing the story or making it available online you should do so promptly and without need for justification.
Feedback
Measure Up is an open, collaborative and transparent. If you have any suggestions or feedback on our pragmatic, recommended approach to measuring and valuing social value, including wellbeing, economic, and fiscal impact, and effects on our environment, please get in touch so we can share and discuss this at our next Advisory Group meeting.
More help
We want to empower anyone to perform and improve their impact measurement – without needing a degree in economics.
If you need any more help, or just someone to do the legwork for you we can help signpost you to software, training and consultancy to help you get to grips with the impact you’re having.
