Always to neglect? About the contribution of tooling to product carbon footprints – Conclusions from literature, industry survey, and case studies

The product carbon footprint (PCF) is a fundamental tool that offers a comprehensive analysis of emissions on the product level to re-think product designs and industrial processes to launch new climate benign products. Methodical issues associated with the determination of PCFs have been discussed for a long time. This article aims to assess the up to now unexplored inclusion of manufacturing tools as contributor to industrial process emissions. Based on literature and results of a previous survey, it can be concluded that the production and use of tools is barely considered in PCF studies and viewed as less significant than other inputs. However, supplementary case studies conducted in the automotive supply industry show that in individual cases greenhouse gas emissions related to tool use can have a considerable effect on the PCF, depending on the process and production volume. Based on these findings, we developed a guide to support the decision on whether to incorporate or exclude tool consumption in PCF studies. • Manufacturing tools, especially customized ones, can significantly impact carbon footprints. • Survey reveals tooling is often excluded from LCA studies on industrial production. • Case studies show how tool use emissions vary by process and production scale. • Proposal of a decision guide when to include tool-related environmental performance.