Cat 10 Starter Kit: Processing of Sold Products

If you sell intermediate products that customers process: decide relevance, then build a minimum viable estimate

Scope 3, Made PracticalCoreStarter Kit30 min

What you'll accomplish

  • Determine whether Cat 10 applies to your business model
  • Identify which sold products require downstream processing
  • Build a minimum viable estimate using documented assumptions
  • Define an improvement path (customer-specific data over time)

Who this is for

Sustainability teams

Determining category relevance

Product and operations teams

Providing product and process context

Finance teams

Approving disclosure assumptions

Quick start (45 minutes)

  • Run the relevance test (Template 1)
  • List products that require downstream processing (Template 2)
  • Document processing assumptions (Template 3)

Relevance test

Cat 10 typically applies when:

  • •you sell materials/components that are processed by someone else (manufacturing, refining, fabrication)

If you sell finished products, software, or services, Cat 10 is often not applicable.

Templates

Template 1 — Relevance Test

Cat 10 Test

Do we sell intermediate products that require downstream processing? (Y/N)
Can we identify typical processing steps? (Y/N)

If "No" → document Cat 10 as not applicable.

Template 2 — Product List (copy/paste)

| Product | Units sold (period) | Customer segment | Typical processing step | Notes |
|---|---:|---|---|---|

Template 3 — Processing Assumptions Log (copy/paste)

| Product | Processing assumption | Source (internal/external/customer) | Confidence (H/M/L) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|

Template 4 — Customer Data Request (optional)

Subject: Request: processing activity summary (optional)

Hi [Name],
We're improving our internal reporting and want to better understand typical processing for [product]. If you're able, can you share any high-level processing activity info you already track (e.g., energy use per unit or typical processing steps)?
If not available, no problem — we will use documented estimates.
Thanks,
[Name]

Common pitfalls

  • ✗Treating Cat 10 as mandatory when it's not relevant
  • ✗Publishing precise numbers without documenting assumptions
  • ✗No improvement plan (estimates never get better)

Change log

v1.0 (2026-01): Latest release