Environment in Data

Environmental data including emissions, energy, water and waste

Environmental data for 2021 will be available in late H1 2022; this page will be updated once the data has been collected and verified.

Carbon emissions

Direct (Scope 1) Emissions
2021metric tons CO2e 2020metric tons CO2e 2019metric tons CO2e
Direct (Scope 1) emissions Will be published H1 2022 15,485,363 34,406,941
Mainline aircraft gross emissions Will be published H1 2022 15,392,492 34,263,909
SAF emissions reductions Will be published H1 2022 −4,708 −6,850
Mainline aircraft net emissions Will be published H1 2022 15,387,784 34,257,059
Mainline vehicles (diesel, gasoline, CNG, LPG) Will be published H1 2022 24,766 65,161
Facilities (natural gas combustion, engine test cells) Will be published H1 2022 70,797 80,573
Dry ice from catering Will be published H1 2022 2,015 4,147
Indirect (Scope 2) emissions
2021metric tons CO2e 2020metric tons CO2e 2019metric tons CO2e
Indirect (Scope 2) emissions Will be published H1 2022 175,087 189,682
Electricity consumption (location-based) Will be published H1 2022 196,066 201,690
Electricity consumption (market-based) Will be published H1 2022 175,087 189,682
Steam consumption Will be published H1 2022 0 0
Other Indirect (Scope 3) Emissions
2021metric tons CO2e 2020metric tons CO2e 2019metric tons CO2e
Other Indirect (Scope 3) emissions Will be published H1 2022 4,280,317 7,471,298
Regional aircraft and bus-operated flights (conventional fuel) Will be published H1 2022 4,053,435 7,025,889
Regional vehicles (diesel, gasoline, CNG, LPG) Will be published H1 2022 13,658 24,588
Ownership stakes in other companies Will be published H1 2022 132,244 244,618
Employee commuting Will be published H1 2022 80,980 176,205
Other Indirect (Scope 3) Emissions
2021metric tons CO2e 2020metric tons CO2e 2019metric tons CO2e
Gross GHG emissions Will be published H1 2022 19,940,767 42,067,921
Carbon offsets1 Will be published H1 2022 −4,106 −15,425
Net GHG emissions Will be published H1 2022 19,936,661 42,052,496
Other Indirect (Scope 3) Emissions
2021metric tons CO2e 2020metric tons CO2e 2019metric tons CO2e
Revenue ton-miles (RTMs, in millions)2 Will be published H1 2022 9,755 26,655
Metric tons CO2e/million RTMs3 Will be published H1 2022 1,605 1,298
Available seat-miles (ASMs)4 Will be published H1 2022 122,804 284,999
Metric tons CO2e/million ASMs5 Will be published H1 2022 161 146
Energy consumption
2021 2020 2019
Aircraft — Mainline conventional fuel (millions of gallons) Will be published H1 2022 1,600 3,562
Aircraft — Mainline sustainable aviation fuel (millions of gallons) Will be published H1 2022 1 1
Aircraft — regional conventional fuel (millions of gallons) Will be published H1 2022 404 729
Electricity (MWh) Will be published H1 2022 477,751 489,197
Natural gas (MM BTUs) Will be published H1 2022 1,264,964 1,432,250
Local air quality
2021tons 2020tons 2019tons
NOx emissions Will be published H1 2022 7,141 15,166
SO2 emissions Will be published H1 2022 662 1,473
CO emissions Will be published H1 2022 3,616 8,363
Waste management
2021metric tons 2020metric tons 2019metric tons
Waste — total Will be published H1 2022 26,667 53,832
Hazardous and non-hazardous waste generation Will be published H1 2022 15,602 26,621
Catering — Municipal waste Will be published H1 2022 11,066 27,210
Recycling — total Will be published H1 2022 4,468 8,332
Non-catering — recycled Will be published H1 2022 3,302 4,489
Catering — recycled Will be published H1 2022 1,166 3,843
Water consumption
2021millions of gallons 2020millions of gallons 2019millions of gallons
Billed water consumption6 Will be published H1 2022 484 521

Footnotes

  1. Offset purchases made in 2019 and 2020 were part of discrete promotional campaigns originally offered in late 2019 through the beginning of 2020. These promotions were offered prior to United’s announcement in December 2020 of its commitment to reduce 100% of its GHG emissions by 2050 without the voluntary use of traditional offsets and are no longer part of United’s promotional campaigns. United may be subject to future regulatory requirements that require the purchase of carbon offsets
  2. The number of revenue, passenger and cargo, tons transported multiplied by the number of miles flown on each segment
  3. Scope 1+2 emissions/Mainline RTMs; metric used for tracking progress against industry goal of 1.5%/year efficiency improvement
  4. The number of seats available for passengers multiplied by the number of scheduled miles those seats are flown
  5. Scope 1+2+3 Regional emissions/Mainline+Regional ASMs; metric used for tracking progress against our 2035 and 2050 climate change goals
  6. Does not account for all United locations or locations shared with other businesses (e.g., terminals) and as a result may change considerably from year to year

Totals may not add up due to rounding.