Scope 3 Emissions
Indirect emissions involved in producing a product, including upstream and downstream emissions. Upstream emissions relate to those activities that support the production of your product before manufacturing (ie. production and transportation of raw materials, business travel, capital goods, etc.) and Downstream emissions support the distribution and end-of-life of your product (processing of sold products, waste disposal, use of product, etc.) Scope 3 emissions are often the hardest to collect and typically account for the majority of emissions stemming from a product's production (for non-vertically integrated companies.
"Calculating our Scope 3 emissions was a long and arduous process, but it yielded significant results. We found that Category 1 (purchased goods and services) makes up the majority of our Scope 3 footprint, and are now working with our suppliers to minimize their carbon footprint."