What is Scope 3?
Scope 3 emissions are indirect GHG emissions that occur in a company’s value chain — both upstream (suppliers) and downstream (customers, product use, end-of-life). Under ESRS E1-6, CSRD reporters must disclose Scope 3 emissions across all relevant GHG Protocol categories.The 15 Scope 3 categories
| Category | Type | Typical data source |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Purchased goods & services | Upstream | Supplier spend + emission factors |
| 2. Capital goods | Upstream | Asset purchases |
| 3. Fuel & energy-related | Upstream | Energy supplier data |
| 4. Upstream transportation | Upstream | Logistics provider data |
| 5. Waste generated in operations | Upstream | Waste handler data |
| 6. Business travel | Upstream | HR / travel booking |
| 7. Employee commuting | Upstream | Employee survey |
| 8. Upstream leased assets | Upstream | Lease agreements |
| 9. Downstream transportation | Downstream | Customer delivery data |
| 10. Processing of sold products | Downstream | Customer data |
| 11. Use of sold products | Downstream | Product performance data |
| 12. End-of-life treatment | Downstream | Industry averages |
| 13. Downstream leased assets | Downstream | Lease data |
| 14. Franchises | Downstream | Franchisee data |
| 15. Investments | Downstream | Financial data |
Calculation methods in Matproof
Matproof supports the three GHG Protocol calculation methods:Spend-based method
Uses supplier spend × sector-specific emission factors.- Best for: First-year reporting, when supplier data is unavailable
- Data needed: Spend by category, country
- Emission factors: Exiobase + DEFRA databases (updated annually)
Activity-based method
Uses physical activity data × emission factors.- Best for: High-spend categories where accuracy matters
- Data needed: Quantities (kg, km, kWh, etc.) from suppliers
- More accurate than spend-based
Supplier-specific method
Uses actual emissions data reported by suppliers.- Best for: Key suppliers with robust carbon accounting
- Data needed: Supplier’s verified Scope 1 + 2 emissions, allocated to your share
- Most accurate — preferred by auditors
Setting up Scope 3 in Matproof
- Go to CSRD → Scope 3
- Select which categories are material (based on your DMA results)
- Choose calculation method per category
- Map your supplier data — either from questionnaire responses or manual input
- Review calculations — Matproof shows the math and data sources
- Export — results mapped to ESRS E1-6 disclosure requirements
Collecting data from suppliers
The supplier questionnaire includes Scope 3 data request fields:- For spend-based: Matproof uses your procurement data automatically
- For activity-based: Questionnaire asks for quantities (e.g., “How many tonnes of goods did you deliver to us?”)
- For supplier-specific: Questionnaire asks for their verified Scope 1+2 emissions and revenue attribution
Emission factors
Matproof uses the following emission factor databases:- Exiobase — multi-regional input-output tables (spend-based)
- DEFRA — UK government emission factors (activity-based)
- ecoinvent — lifecycle assessment database (product-level)
- IPCC AR6 — global warming potentials
ESRS E1-6 requires reporting Scope 3 emissions in CO2 equivalent (CO2e), covering all 6 GHGs from the Kyoto Protocol: CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, SF6.