Scope 3: use of sold products

For a company that makes boilers, cars or fridges, or sells fuel, most of the emissions it is responsible for happen after the sale, in its customers' homes and vehicles. Category 11 captures them, and it often dwarfs everything else the company reports. Because the figure covers a product's whole life, it rests on assumptions that need care and explanation. This guide explains what category 11 covers, the difference between direct and indirect emissions, how to calculate it, works through a heating equipment maker's sales, and covers the key assumptions, the rules and how companies reduce these emissions.

By Hamza Fida, Chartered Accountant. Reviewed by Mirza Fahad Baig, Chartered Accountant. 4 minute read.

Short answer

Use of sold products is scope 3 category 11: the emissions from the use of the goods and services a company sold in the reporting year, over their expected lifetimes. The GHG Protocol requires direct use-phase emissions: from products that consume energy directly, such as vehicles, appliances and machinery; from fuels and feedstocks that are burned, such as petrol, gas or coal; and from products that contain or form greenhouse gases released during use, such as refrigerants in air conditioners. Indirect use-phase emissions, from products that need energy only indirectly, such as clothes that are washed or food that is cooked, are optional. The lifetime emissions of products sold in the year are reported in that year, usually calculated as units sold, times lifetime use, times energy per use, times an emission factor. For carmakers, appliance makers and oil and gas companies, category 11 is often the largest part of the inventory, so assumptions about product life, usage and electricity grids should be disclosed. In this guide's example, a heating equipment maker's category 11 emissions are 7.27 million tonnes.

At a glance

Category
Scope 3, category 11
Covers
Customers' product use
Required
Direct use emissions
Optional
Indirect use emissions
Timing
Lifetime, in year of sale
Largest for
Cars, appliances, fuels
Scope 3: use of sold productsCategory: Scope 3, category 11; Covers: Customers' product use; Required: Direct use emissions; Optional: Indirect use emissions; Timing: Lifetime, in year of sale; Largest for: Cars, appliances, fuels.KEY FACTS AT A GLANCEScope 3: use of sold productsCategoryScope 3, category 11CoversCustomers' product useRequiredDirect use emissionsOptionalIndirect use emissionsTimingLifetime, in year of saleLargest forCars, appliances, fuelsTax BakersScope 3: use of sold productsCategory: Scope 3, category 11; Covers: Customers' product use; Required: Direct use emissions; Optional: Indirect use emissions; Timing: Lifetime, in year of sale; Largest for: Cars, appliances, fuels.KEY FACTS AT A GLANCEScope 3: use of sold productsCategoryScope 3, category 11CoversCustomers' product useRequiredDirect use emissionsOptionalIndirect use emissionsTimingLifetime, in year of saleLargest forCars, appliances, fuelsTax Bakers
Key facts at a glance, as set out in this guide.

What does use of sold products cover?

Category 11 covers emissions from end users' use of the products a company sold during the year, whether consumers or businesses, over the products' expected lifetimes. It sits downstream, after processing of sold products, category 10, and before end-of-life treatment, category 12, which covers disposal and recycling. Emissions from the company's own use of its products, such as a carmaker's test fleet, are in scope 1 or 2. See the 15 scope 3 categories.

What are direct and indirect use-phase emissions?

  • Direct, required: products that consume fuel or electricity directly during use, such as cars, boilers, washing machines and servers; fuels and feedstocks that are burned or oxidised, sold by oil, gas and coal companies; and greenhouse gases contained in products and released in use, such as refrigerants leaking from air conditioners and heat pumps.
  • Indirect, optional: products that need energy only indirectly, such as shampoo used with hot water, clothes that are washed and dried, or food that is refrigerated and cooked.

How are use of sold products emissions calculated?

For energy-using products: units sold, multiplied by expected lifetime, by energy used per year, and by the emission factor for the fuel or electricity used, often by region of sale. For fuels: quantity sold multiplied by the combustion factor. For products containing greenhouse gases: units sold, multiplied by the charge, the share expected to leak during use and the gas's global warming potential. Data come from product specifications, testing standards such as energy labels, and assumptions about how customers use the product. See emission factors.

Use of sold products in practice: a heating equipment maker

A heating equipment maker sold 200,000 gas boilers and 50,000 heat pumps in 2027, each with an expected life of 15 years.

Per unit, over its lifeAssumptionsTonnes CO2e
Gas boiler12,000 kWh of gas a year at 0.183 kg CO2e per kWh32.9
Heat pump, electricity3,500 kWh a year at an average grid factor of 0.25 kg per kWh13.1
Heat pump, refrigerant2 kg of R-32 leaking at 2% a year, global warming potential 7710.46

Category 11 emissions are 6.59 million tonnes from boilers and 0.68 million from heat pumps, 7.27 million in total. If the sales mix shifted to 125,000 of each, the total would fall to 5.82 million tonnes.

Category 11 emissions by sales mix (thousand tonnes CO2e)Category 11 emissions by sales mix (thousand tonnes CO2e)7,2672027 sales mix5,816Shifted mixGas boilersHeat pumps
Product mix drives use-phase emissions.

Boilers are four-fifths of the units but almost all of the emissions, because each emits about 2.4 times as much over its life as a heat pump. The company uses current average grid factors for each country of sale and discloses that, as grids decarbonise, actual emissions from its heat pumps will be lower. Its transition plan targets the sales mix, not just efficiency. See refrigerants and fugitive emissions and climate transition plans.

Which assumptions matter most?

Product lifetime, usage patterns, the energy efficiency of each model, the regions where products are used and their grid factors, and refrigerant leak rates. Small changes in lifetime or usage move the result in proportion, so companies should state their assumptions, base them on recognised test standards or market data, and keep them consistent from year to year, recalculating the base year if a method change is significant. See base year recalculation.

How do reporting rules treat category 11?

IFRS S2 and the ESRS require scope 3 categories that are significant or material, which for these industries includes category 11. It is not among the five categories CARB proposes to make mandatory under SB 253 from 2027, but companies can report it voluntarily. The SBTi expects scope 3 targets to cover significant categories, and sellers of fossil fuels face specific expectations. Because category 11 counts lifetime emissions in the year of sale, it moves with sales volumes and mix, so intensity measures per unit sold help explain trends. See GHG intensity metrics.

How can companies reduce use-phase emissions?

Improve product efficiency, shift the sales mix towards electric and low-carbon products, switch to refrigerants with low global warming potentials, design for repair and longer life where that cuts lifetime emissions, and help customers use products efficiently. For fuel sellers, reductions depend on changing what is sold. See the scope 3 categories.

Need help applying the standards?

Our Chartered Accountants help finance teams and students apply IFRS and US GAAP to real transactions.

Book a call Chat on WhatsApp

Questions people ask

What is scope 3 category 11?

Use of sold products: the emissions from customers' use of goods and services the company sold in the year, over their expected lifetimes.

Are indirect use-phase emissions required?

No. Direct use-phase emissions are required; indirect ones, from products that need energy only indirectly, are optional.

When are use of sold products emissions reported?

The expected lifetime emissions of products sold in a year are reported in the year of sale.

How are use of sold products emissions calculated?

Usually units sold times lifetime, times energy used per year, times an emission factor, plus any greenhouse gases released from the product during use.

Sources

Every fee, date and rule on this page was taken from these official and primary sources.

  1. GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard
  2. US EPA: GHG Emission Factors Hub
  3. UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: greenhouse gas reporting conversion factors 2026
  4. IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group I, chapter 7, including global warming potentials
  5. IFRS Foundation: IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (IFRS S1 and IFRS S2)

Rules and fees change. If you are reading this long after October 12, 2026, confirm the figures with the source before you rely on them.

SustainabilityThe 15 scope 3 categoriesSustainabilityRefrigerants and fugitive emissionsSustainabilityDisclosing climate transition plans

More in Sustainability

Previous in this topicScope 3: business travel and commutingNext in this topicGHG intensity metricsTopicAll 100 guides in Sustainability

This guide is general information. It is not tax or legal advice for your situation.