CS3Circular Scope 3
A science-based method and tool for quantifying CO₂e emissions from circular-economy strategies
CS3 is a peer-reviewed method and tool that quantifies the Scope 3 GHG emissions of more than 30 circular-economy strategies implementable within manufacturing companies. Strategy by strategy, it shows how each one performs emission-wise against a business-as-usual baseline — and now what each one costs and saves — helping companies choose the right circular strategies that deliver real Scope 3 reductions for science-based targets (SBTi) and CSRD reporting.
Circular strategies, turned into numbers companies can report
Companies committing to science-based targets hit a wall when using circular-economy approaches: there is currently no standard way to show how a circular strategy affects Scope 3 emissions — and Scope 3 is usually more than 70% of a manufacturer's footprint. CS3 closes that gap, and it's already running as a working tool and in client work.
How it works
The peer-reviewed method behind CS3 — how 30+ circular strategies map to the Scope 3 categories, the trade-offs it exposes, and the three published papers it relies on.
Read the method → The toolThe method, running
The live re-implementation: baseline versus circular across every category, strategy prioritisation, and a new economic layer answering “does the strategy pay back?”
See the tool → In practiceAlready in use with clients
How I am using CS3 at ReCykla today to calculate Scope 3 packaging emissions for clients — and the CBAM extension that is now getting implemented.
See it in practice → AboutWho builds it
Michele Marini — the author of the method — plus the open clean re-implementation toward including water consumption and material flows.
About & build log →Validated in practice
Tested with industry, now in client work
During its development at DTU, the CS3 method was tested with more than three manufacturing companies, where it modelled Scope 3 GHG reductions of 38–43% against a business-as-usual baseline. Today I apply it in client work at ReCykla — turning real activity data into figures for science-based targets (SBTi) and ESRS / CSRD reporting.
manufacturers in the testing phase at DTU.
modelled Scope 3 GHG reduction versus business-as-usual.
reporting-ready outputs for science-based targets and ESRS / CSRD.