How to get usable Scope 3 data from your suppliers
Collecting supplier data for Scope 3 reporting has got to be one of the most frustrating parts of carbon accounting.
You send templates, follow up religiously, and maybe get a PDF back. Sometimes it's an educated guess. Often it's radio silence.
You're not imagining things. This problem is universal. You're not alone.
At the recent Scope 3 Digital Tools Clinic, sustainability practitioners finally voiced the questions they'd been thinking but hadn't dared ask out loud.
When the conversation turned to supplier engagement, nobody wanted to talk about dashboard features. They wanted solutions to real problems.
Three questions dominated the discussion. Each one shows why most supplier data collection efforts fail spectacularly.
1. Getting suppliers to actually respond
High submission rates don't come from sending more reminders. They come from removing friction.
The best platforms understand this. They pre-load supplier information wherever possible, so you're not asking companies to start from blank spreadsheets. They don't lock suppliers into rigid formats that make data unusable for other customers. Most importantly, they show suppliers what's in it for them.
We've watched submission rates jump when suppliers can see benchmarks against peers, understand how the data enhances their market position, or recognise it as a path to preferred supplier status.
When suppliers can upload their data once and share it with multiple buyers, engagement becomes a new business opportunity instead of another strain for compliance.
The magic happens when the platform makes suppliers want to participate.
2. Managing PCF updates without losing your mind
Here's where most processes collapse entirely. You might successfully collect Product Carbon Footprints once, but six months later, you're flying blind.
Has anything changed? Which suppliers updated their methodologies? Who's still using last year's energy mix?
Manual tracking doesn't scale. Email chains become archaeological expeditions. Spreadsheets multiply like weeds. Smart platforms solve this with automated version control.
They timestamp every PCF upload, flag data that's crossed your freshness threshold, and let suppliers update their profiles without rebuilding from scratch.
The best ones push those changes directly into your system of record, eliminating the import-export dance that consumes so much time.
Version control isn't sexy, but it's the difference between a functioning program and an expensive filing cabinet.
3. Building supplier capability
Most suppliers aren't carbon accounting experts. They're manufacturers, logistics providers, and service companies trying to keep up with rapidly evolving reporting requirements.
Some have sophisticated measurement systems. Others are still figuring out what Scope 3 means.
This capability gap creates a choice. You can either spend years building internal training programs, or you can work with platforms that provide supplier education as part of the service. The companies seeing the fastest progress tend to choose the latter.
When suppliers receive guidance on measurement methodologies, access to emission factors, and clear explanations of what data matters most, they're more likely to provide accurate information. They're also more likely to improve their own sustainability practices, which benefits everyone.
The questions worth asking
These operational headaches aren't unique to your organisation. Every team scaling Scope 3 programs faces the same challenges.
When evaluating platforms, the important questions aren't about features. They're about outcomes.
How many suppliers typically engage with the platform? What percentage update their PCFs regularly? Can suppliers maintain one profile for multiple buyers? Does the system offer emission factor fallbacks when primary data isn't available?
The answers reveal whether a platform understands the real-world constraints that make or break supplier engagement programs.
Making data collection work
At DitchCarbon, we've built our supplier engagement module around these exact frustrations.
Shared supplier accounts eliminate redundant data entry. Automated version control keeps PCFs current without manual intervention. Built-in benchmarking gives suppliers reasons to participate beyond compliance.
The result is higher response rates, fresher data, and fewer late-night emails asking where the updated carbon footprints are.
Supplier data collection doesn't have to be an exercise in futility.
When the process works for suppliers, it works for everyone.
Want to see how Ditchcarbon handles this?
We’ve built our supplier engagement module with these exact questions in mind—from shared supplier accounts to automated PCF version control.
→ Explore our supplier data collection features
→ Or get in touch to talk through your supplier landscape
👉 Next up in this blog series: Building defensible Scope 3 data through automated validation