Sustainability Impact Reporting — ScrapTrade.com.au

What this report does

ScrapTrade’s Sustainability Impact Reporting measures the real-world environmental benefits created by trades on our platform: tonnes of scrap circulated, energy avoided, and CO₂e emissions saved. We report that impact transparently so buyers, sellers, auditors and regulators can make decisions based on evidence — not slogans.

Primary keywords: sustainability impact reporting, scrap metal carbon savings, circular economy scrap trading, recycling emissions savings.

Key metrics we publish

We focus on measurable, auditable KPIs:

Tonnes recycled (by material): steel, aluminium, copper, brass, lead, etc.
Estimated CO₂e avoided (tCO₂e): site-to-gate savings from using secondary vs primary material.
Energy saved (MWh or % relative to primary production): especially for aluminium where savings are large.
Virgin material avoided (ore, bauxite, iron ore) in tonnes.
Transaction integrity metrics: % of trades with verified documentation, % third-party-verified shipments.
Circularity outcomes: % of traded volume re-entering supply chains (reuse rate).
Logistics footprint (inbound/outbound transport tCO₂e) where data is provided or modelled.

For context: recycled aluminium processing typically uses ~95% less energy than primary aluminium production; recycled steel avoids ~1.6–1.7 tCO₂e per tonne in common assessments. These are the kinds of material-specific factors we rely on for our calculations. International Aluminium Institute+1

How we calculate impact — methodology (high level)

We follow a conservative, audit-ready approach:

Data capture (trade-level): each completed trade records material type, gross mass, declared grade, location (origin & destination), documentation (certificates, bills of lading) and whether the buyer/seller provided measured weights or platform-estimated weights.
Material factors: we apply peer-reviewed or industry-accepted emission/energy factors per material (e.g., aluminium gate-to-gate recycled vs primary, steel secondary savings per tonne). We favour authoritative industry sources and government-level studies. International Aluminium Institute+1
Transport & logistics: where shipment data is provided, we model transport emissions using distance × mode emission factors. If logistics are managed by third parties and data isn’t available, we use conservative default emission factors and clearly label them as modelled.
Verification & conservatism: when documentation is incomplete, we apply conservative (lower-bound) savings estimates. We never inflate savings — default factors are audited by our technical partner.
Aggregation & reporting: impacts are aggregated monthly and published quarterly and annually (see cadence below). All aggregated figures include a methods appendix with factors and data quality flags.
Third-party alignment: our methodology maps to circular economy reporting guidance and the OECD’s monitoring frameworks for resource efficiency. OECD

Data sources and references

We prioritise high-quality, recent sources for material factors and circular economy context, for example:

Industry data on aluminium recycled vs primary energy and emissions. International Aluminium Institute
European metal recycling factsheets and carbon/energy saving factors for steel. ECEP
OECD monitoring frameworks and guidance on measuring circular economy progress. OECD
Independent think-tank and sector analyses on circular economy progress and systemic risks. The Guardian+1

(Our full methods appendix cites exact factor versions and publication dates.)

Reporting cadence & deliverables

Live dashboard (monthly): anonymised platform-level metrics for registered users and stakeholders.
Quarterly summary: downloadable PDF with KPIs, methodology summary, and data-quality flags.
Annual Impact Report: comprehensive audited report with granular material breakdown, case studies, verifier statement, and improvements roadmap.

Verification, governance & audit

Internal controls: data validation rules inside the platform (document checks, weight validation, anomaly detection).
Third-party verification: we engage independent verifiers for the annual report (scope: methodology, sampling and validation).
Audit trail: every trade’s supporting docs and communications remain logged as part of the platform record for a minimum of 7 years, to support audits and regulatory checks. (This mirrors best practice on retention and traceability.)
Dispute pathway: buyers or sellers can raise disputes through the platform; disputed trades are flagged and excluded from “verified impact” until resolved.

What we don’t do

We call this out because nuance matters:

We do not claim lifecycle cradle-to-grave benefits unless both upstream and downstream data are provided and independently verified.
We do not aggregate modelled logistics emissions with verified material savings without clear labelling.
We do not use proprietary “boost factors” to magnify reported savings.

Use cases for our reports

Corporate buyers use our verified tonnes and tCO₂e savings to report Scope 3 improvements and supplier engagement.
Recyclers and yards demonstrate verified circularity performance to customers and regulators.
Investors and lenders evaluate sustainability-linked financing and risk mitigation backed by trade-level evidence.

Risks & limitations

Be frank: global recycling systems are strained. Recent analyses show recycling rates and material-circulation challenges at scale — reporting must be interpreted within system limits and data quality caveats. We flag uncertainties in every report and keep the conservative default when in doubt. The Guardian+1

Example material factors (illustrative)

Note: these are examples; our published methods appendix includes the exact sources and factor versions used in each reporting period.

Aluminium: recycled processing can use ~95% less energy vs primary (huge CO₂e benefit). International Aluminium Institute
Steel: common estimates show recycled steel saves ~1.6–1.7 tCO₂e per tonne versus primary routes (factor depends on technology and region). ECEP

Integration with third-party logistics

Logistics partners currently provide shipment details on a trade-by-trade basis. Where logistics data is provided, we include transport emissions in net impact. If third parties do not supply data, we model emissions conservatively and indicate which trades used modelled vs measured logistics data.

Privacy & data governance

We only use trade data for impact reporting in anonymised, aggregated form unless the user provides explicit consent to attribute impact to a named organisation. Individual personal data is processed according to our Privacy Policy and retained per our 7-year record policy. Internal link: Legal & Compliance — for governance, retention and legal obligations.