Welcome to the onboarding manual for our impact dashboards. This manual guides you through navigating the dashboards so you can interpret insights and make data-driven decisions effectively.
This article explains how the packaging impact dashboard works. It gives you insight into the part of your total company impact attributed to packaging.
How your impact is shown
Using the Impact selector at the top of the dashboard, you can view the packaging impact as the total carbon footprint, the Environmental Cost Indicator (ECI), or any individual EF 3.1 impact category (such as water use). You can switch between them freely — they're all shown through the same set of views, so there's no difference in how you navigate them:
Carbon footprint (total) — expressed in CO2e, determined using the IPCC 2021 methodology and the GWP100 indicator, and aligned with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
Environmental Cost Indicator (ECI) — a single € value that aggregates all impact categories. If Planet Earth had a bank account, this would be the amount invoiced.
EF 3.1 impact categories — the full set of Environmental Footprint metrics, each in its own unit (for example, water use in m³ world Eq deprived).
The same metrics apply to every score, so each impact category is explained in full just once. For a thorough explanation of every category and how Root converts your data into these scores, see What is characterisation and how does Root convert data into impact scores?
Use the year selector to set the timeframe. The completeness indicator in the top right shows how much of your data has been properly reported/matched. For instance, unmatched materials carry no impact and are flagged in the packaging matching section.
Curious to learn more? Read our blogs on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the Environmental Cost Indicator.
Navigating the dashboard
Whichever metric you select, the dashboard shows the same views.
Packaging footprint
The total footprint attributed to packaging for the selected timeframe, shown in the unit of the metric you're viewing. The % of company total below it shows how much of your whole company impact comes from packaging.
Product vs logistics packaging impact
This chart splits your packaging footprint between product packaging (the packaging that comes with each unit of your product) and logistics packaging (the packaging used at your facilities for shipping and storage). For more on the distinction, see Matching: Packaging materials.
Top contributing materials
This table ranks the packaging materials contributing most to your packaging footprint, with the mass used, the supplier, and each material's share of the total. Use the Unique / Grouped toggle to switch between listing materials individually and combining identical materials into a single line.
Material impact per packaging material
This table provides the footprint of every packaging material, with columns for Material, Supplier, Total mass, Category (product or logistics), Share, and the impact in the selected metric. Materials that haven't been matched yet show no impact and are flagged, so you can see what still needs attention. Use the Unique / Grouped toggle to list materials individually or combined, and the download button at the top right to export the data.
Packaging footprint by scope
The total carbon footprint has one additional breakdown that the other metrics don't: a split across scopes. This view distributes your packaging carbon footprint across scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions:
Scope 1 — direct emissions from owned or controlled sources.
Scope 2 — indirect emissions from purchased energy.
Scope 3 — all other indirect emissions in the company's value chain.
For product companies, the majority of emissions (typically over 85%) fall under Scope 3.
FAQ
What impact categories does Root calculate?
Root calculates your impact across the full set of EF 3.1 metrics — covering carbon, water and land use, toxicity, pollution, air and atmosphere, and resource depletion — and aggregates them into the Environmental Cost Indicator (ECI). Each category is explained in detail in What is characterisation and how does Root convert data into impact scores?
What is the difference between product and logistics packaging?
Product packaging comes with each unit of your product (e.g. a box or wrap), and its impact is multiplied by the number of units sold. Logistics packaging is used at your facilities for shipping and storage (e.g. pallets or stretch film), and its impact is based on the total amount consumed. Both are matched the same way — see Matching: Packaging materials.
What happens after I upload data — is the dashboard immediately usable?
Yes, the dashboard is always up to date. We've removed the "Request Impact" button, so you'll instantly see the most current data based on your uploaded information.