A fleet customer sends a questionnaire: CO2 per delivered part, method, evidence. The salesperson looks for a number and finds “a used part saves up to 90 per cent”. Putting that into a quotation is the mistake: it holds for one part type, one comparison and one source — none of which appear in the quotation. What a supplier can really contribute is narrower and more valuable.
Why the question arrives at all
Reporting companies have to disclose greenhouse gas emissions along the scope structure. What a business buys is not its own direct emission but sits upstream — for a workshop or a fleet, parts purchasing sits exactly there. The legal basis is Directive (EU) 2022/2464 and the standards of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772. Your customer therefore needs a statement that may appear in their account, not a marketing claim.
What a supplier can evidence — and what not
| Statement | Can the supplier evidence it? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Part identity (OE number, name, vehicle type) | Yes | Follows from reference data and can be checked |
| Origin (donor vehicle, year, mileage) | Yes | Held in the recycler's vehicle record |
| Condition and depth of reconditioning | Yes | Inspection record, condition grade, rework effort |
| Weight and materials | Partly | From reference or measured data; material shares often coarse |
| Transport to the customer | Yes | Shipping data of your own carrier |
| Emissions of manufacturing the new part | No | The manufacturer's data, not the trader's |
| Savings against a new part | No | A comparison made by the customer, not a property of the part |
The record that actually helps
- Unambiguous identity. Without a confirmed OE number no part can be tied to an account line. It is the bracket between your evidence and the customer's invoice.
- Origin with a date. Vehicle type, first registration and removal date; for reconditioned parts, what was replaced.
- Condition on a fixed scale. A grade with criteria carries more than “good condition” — see Assessing used parts from images: condition, damage and limits.
- Weight and, where known, material. Mass carries every later conversion; estimated material shares belong marked as estimates.
- Transport. Distance and mode of the actual shipment, not an annual average.
- A note on method. One sentence on which standard applies and what is explicitly not included.
Where tapinomahub fits into that record
The platform calculates no emissions and sells no factors. It supplies the parts of the record that come from vehicle and part data: GET /parts/oe/{oeNumber} confirms number, name and vehicle assignment, GET /vin/{vin}/vehicle the origin of the donor vehicle with type and build data, POST /vision/part/quality a condition grade with individual criteria instead of an adjective. What turns that into an account line is the customer's method — and it should stay that way.
Limits that belong in every quotation
- A saving is a comparison, not a product feature. It depends on what it is compared against, and that choice is the customer's.
- A percentage without a reference is worthless. “Up to 90 per cent” says nothing about the actual delivery.
- The digital product passport does not solve this yet. Ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 sets the frame, the mandatory data arrives product group by product group, and for type-approved vehicles it applies only where no sector-specific rules exist. More in The digital product passport: three regimes, three timelines, one record.
- Environmental claims are contestable. Advertising with figures you cannot evidence risks more than an unhappy customer.
The honest sentence in a quotation is therefore not “saves 90 per cent CO2” but: “For this part we supply identity, origin, condition, weight and transport as evidence; the assessment is yours to make with your method.” That sentence survives any audit — and sells better, because it actually answers the customer's questionnaire.
Sources and legal references
Frequently asked
Does a small business have to report itself?
Usually not. The question arrives through the supply chain: your reporting customer needs data about what they buy from you.
May I state a saving against a new part?
As a worked example with a named source and assumption, yes; as a property of the part, no. The comparison belongs to the customer, not to the part.
Which entry is implemented fastest?
Weight and a confirmed OE number per line item. Both are usually in the system already and carry every later calculation.
What do I do when I do not know a value?
Name the gap. A field marked unknown is usable in an account; a silently estimated one is not.
This article is general professional guidance and does not replace legal advice. The applicable statute and the conditions imposed by your competent authority prevail.