Count one container type for one business customer in one period. The row is ready when issued, returned and damaged are whole numbers you counted, the end date is on or after the start date, and damaged is not greater than returned. Returned may be greater than issued, because a return in this period can belong to a container sent earlier. Leave a blank as unknown. Write zero only when you counted zero. Do not subtract the columns, and do not add overlapping periods together.

This count is for transit containers a supplier issues to a business customer. It is not a consumer delivery trial. Material and disposal choices stay on the packaging guide. A damaged container that becomes waste goes to the waste-reduction guide.

Fill in the count

Download all three files. Type into a copy of the blank count.

issued_count, returned_count and damaged_count are blank or a whole number of zero or more. damaged_count counts damaged units among the units returned in that period, so it cannot exceed returned_count. row_status is ready or waiting. A row with a blank count, a date out of order, or damaged greater than returned is waiting.

Each row is the activity you counted in that period. If two periods overlap, do not add them. A container movement belongs on one row.

The count does not show a loss rate, outstanding stock or a carbon saving. A tracking product’s percentage is not a field on this sheet.

Worked example: fictional totes

The example is fictional. Harbour Goods is not a real customer. Twenty minus sixteen is not written down, and it is not called a saving.

Period Issued Returned Damaged Status
1 April 2026 to 30 April 2026 20 16 1 Ready
1 May 2026 to 31 May 2026 8 Blank 0, counted Waiting. The blank return is not zero.
1 March 2026 to 31 March 2026 5 12 2 Ready. The extra returns can be earlier dispatches.
1 June 2026 to 30 June 2026 4 2 5 Waiting. Damaged is greater than returned.
15 April 2026 to 15 May 2026 3 3 0, counted Ready as its own row. Do not add it to April.

Limits

The count does not prove an environmental saving, a packaging-tax position or a packaging-data exemption. Those questions stay off this sheet.

Sources

Accessed 9 October 2026.