cientific sustainability report — Herbal Love Kesh Hair Oil (Bhringraj base) — 100 mL

Format: small & precise screening LCA (cradle → regional warehouse) with a reproducible scientific calculation.
Headline KPI: ≈ 0.46 kg CO₂-eq per 100 mL bottle (screening estimate; see stepwise calc & assumptions).

Scope & functional unit

• Functional unit: 1 × 100 mL retail-ready bottle (Bhringraj-infused oil using a carrier-oil proxy).

• System boundary: cradle (raw-ingredient production & primary processing) → manufacture (mixing, filling, labeling) → transport to regional warehouse. Excludes consumer use and end-of-life.

Key assumptions (explicit — change any and result scales linearly)

• Volume → mass: 100 mL × 0.92 g/mL = 0.092 kg oil (carrier oil proxy — sesame/coconut typical in Ayurvedic oils).

• Ingredient upstream (herbal infusion + carrier oil proxy): 3.81 kg CO₂e / kg oil (median from vegetable-oil LCA literature).

• Bottle: amber glass 100 g (0.100 kg); glass production EF used ≈ 0.60 kg CO₂e / kg glass.

• Cap + label: 3 g (0.003 kg) mixed plastic/paper; proxy EF 2.15 kg CO₂e / kg (plastic average).

• Manufacturing electricity: 0.05 kWh per filled bottle.

• Grid emission factor (India): 0.727 kg CO₂e / kWh.

• Distribution: 200 km by road truck; freight factor 0.069 kg CO₂e / tonne-km.

Stepwise scientific calculation (reproducible)

1. Ingredients (herbal + carrier oil)
   0.092 kg × 3.81 kg CO₂e/kg = 0.3505 kg CO₂e

2. Glass bottle (packaging)
   0.100 kg × 0.60 kg CO₂e/kg = 0.0600 kg CO₂e

3. Cap + label
   0.003 kg × 2.15 kg CO₂e/kg = 0.0065 kg CO₂e

4. Manufacturing electricity
   0.05 kWh × 0.727 kg CO₂e/kWh = 0.0364 kg CO₂e

5. Transport (200 km truck)
   Total product mass ≈ 0.092 + 0.100 + 0.003 = 0.195 kg = 0.000195 t
   200 km × 0.000195 t × 0.069 kg CO₂e/t-km = 0.0027 kg CO₂e

Total (cradle → warehouse) = 0.3505 + 0.0600 + 0.0065 + 0.0364 + 0.0027 = 0.4561 kg CO₂e ≈ 0.46 kg CO₂e per 100 mL bottle

Quick interpretation (one-liners)

• Ingredient upstream (herbal + carrier oil) is the dominant contributor (~77% here).

• Glass packaging and manufacturing electricity are meaningful secondaries.

• Short-haul transport is negligible at this scale but can grow with longer or air freight.

Priority improvement actions (high impact, low effort)

1. Source lower-impact carrier oils / concentrated extracts (local, low-input agriculture or suppliers with LCA data) — biggest single reduction.

2. Use recycled-content glass (cullet) or lighter packaging (rGlass, rPET, or refill pouches) to cut packaging emissions.

3. Reduce energy per bottle (optimize heating/filling, larger batch fills) and/or switch to renewable electricity.

4. Offer refill or concentrate options to reduce per-unit packaging and transport impacts.

Suggested KPI to track monthly

• kg CO₂e per 100 mL bottle (start with screening ≈ 0.46 kg CO₂e and update using measured bottle mass, supplier EF for the oil, actual kWh per batch, and real transport km).

References (kept here at the end as requested)

1. Central Electricity Authority — CO₂ Baseline Database / India grid emission guidance (used 0.727 kg CO₂e/kWh). Central Electricity Authority+1

2. Median life-cycle GHG for refined vegetable oils — ~3.81 kg CO₂e/kg (used as a proxy for carrier oil + infusion upstream). ScienceDirect+1

3. Container glass life-cycle studies (India) — used ~0.60 kg CO₂e/kg for small glass bottles. AIGMF+1

4. PET / plastic packaging and mixed plastic LCA references (for cap/label proxy). ScienceDirect+1

5. Road-freight emission factor — 0.069 kg CO₂e / tonne-km (freight emission datasets/methodology). Climatiq+1