Environmental accounting—making it work for your company

There is no simple recipe for success in implementing environmental accounting. Day-to-day needs and strategic objectives will determine how an organization can benefit from environmental accounting. Our previous article listed many potential applications of environmental accounting and discussed common environmental accounting objectives.¹ This article is geared toward organizations that want to start implementing environmental accounting and create a foundation of success on which to build. In this context, the questions are (1) What are some logical starting points? and (2) Where do companies go from there? This article first describes some paradigms that may guide companies as they think about how to implement environmental accounting, then it presents a series of critical activities that are needed to make environmental accounting an integral part of ongoing business management functions.     

Environmental economic,political and ethical integration in a common decision-making framework

This article develops a decision-making framework for environmental management that integrates technical, economic, political and legal, and ethical decision levels. It attempts to show how these decision levels can be ordained, integrated and interconnected and postulates a hierarchic concentric sphere system that proposes an environmental management model for long-term solutions. This model can be used as a check list for environmental management decision-making and also as a guide for environmental conflict resolution where environmental problems necessitate several levels of decision making. It integrates various environmental ethical positions and evaluates political decisions into a comprehensive, broadly applicable multidisciplinary approach. The objective of this decision-making model is to interconnect into a simplified sequence different levels of environmental management processes in order to account for sustainability, efficacy, efficiency and the acceptability of environmental management processes in the long term. This is done by observing when an environmental problem needs to be solved within a certain sphere of solutions and when it requires wider frameworks, how these can be established and how this process proves that solidarity is the widest and most reasonable sphere.     

Getting started with environmental cost accounting

Proactive corporations have been looking at methods to determine the real costs of doing business, including environmental costs using environmental cost accounting (ECA) methodology. Many companies do not track or measure environmental costs and therefore do not know their true environmental costs. Unfortunately, conventional accounting practices rarely tease out environmental costs, and the costs associated with environmental compliance remain hidden in general overhead accounts. ECA can bring the world of business and the environment closer. When we have a better handle on environmental costs, we can use this information to better prioritize environmental projects, identify cost improvement projects, and allocate environmental costs to products. In this article we explore how some companies approach ECA and show how to initiate an ECA program.     

Applying outcome evaluation and measures to environmental management programs

Environmental program and audit procedures primarily focus on solving perceived immediate problems and do not provide a context within which to evaluate the work and its importance for the decision maker. Outcome evaluation offers a theory-based model for designing long-term solutions based on stakeholder expectation and, ultimately, ownership of the performance changes. Problem identification as well as the development of actions and their measurement are done with the full participation of those responsible for the implementation of the changes. Ownership of the results is reinforced and, significantly, the decision maker and other interested parties can measure the value or the importance of the work. This article describes how outcome evaluation can be an important tool for federal environmental managers who must respond to the Government Performance and Results Act (1993) and privatesector companies. Used in combination with traditional environmental practices, outcome evaluation can contribute to both the design and the implementation of a successful environmental management program.     

Environmental management in an international consumer goods company

Many management processes and tools can provide companies with information to support their environmental decision making. Risk assessment, environmental auditing, life cycle assessment and environmental reporting are but a few examples. Each of these has typically evolved independently as the need for it has arisen. Today, however, this abundance of tools can lead to confusion: What is the exact objective of each tool? How do they differ? Are some ‘better’ than others? Should they be used in parallel, sequentially or in place of each other? More importantly, how do they fit together into a coherent environmental management framework that will ensure sound environmental and economic decision making in a company? This paper seeks to answer these questions. It describes the overall environmental framework that has been developed internally within Procter & Gamble and which allows the company to make coherent economically and environmentally sound decisions, in both the short- and long-term.     

Case study: Risk prioritization and ISO 14001 at Acushnet rubber company

Increasingly, companies are striving to prioritize environmental management decisions based on risk and perceived impact. This case study on Acushnet Rubber begins a four‐part series profiling environmental decision making at leading companies. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Comparing Environmental Flow Implementation Options with Structured Decision Making: Case Study from the Willamette River,Oregon

Many frameworks have been used to identify environmental flows for sustaining river ecosystems or specific taxa in the face of widespread flow alteration. However, these frameworks largely focus on identifying suitable flows and often ignore the important links between management actions, resulting flows, and valued ecosystem or social responses. Structured decision making (SDM) could assist the comparison of environmental flows by providing a mature framework to link management actions to objectives via environmental flow science. We describe SDM and illustrate its application using a case study focused on comparing environmental flow scenarios for the mainstem Willamette River, Oregon. In a short timeframe, SDM was applied to identify objectives, develop empirical and expert opinion‐based models, and compare flow scenarios while accounting for interannual flow variability and partial controllability. No scenario was clearly preferred based on available knowledge, largely because river flows could only be partially controlled through dam operations. Participants agreed that SDM was useful for comparing alternative dam operations, but that refined predictive models and additional objectives were needed to better inform basinwide flow decisions. In our view, SDM can provide more realistic comparisons of environmental flows by accounting for partial controllability and uncertainty, which may result in greater implementation of available flow management actions.     

Justifying the cost of EMIS: Piloting lessons from Rhone-Poulenc

Two worlds are colliding as many companies are integrating environmental management with business management. Nowhere is this more evident than in the hundreds of companies that are now working to upgrade their environmental management information systems (EMIS), which are a critical component of business integration. Building a business case for EMIS requires crossing many disciplinary boundaries—knowing the language of information systems, accounting, business management, and environmental management. Hence, it is a very valuable skill for environmental managers to develop in order to build their function and their own careers. Some environmental and information systems professionals are attempting to develop a general set of guidelines for justifying the cost of EMIS—in particular, the useful emerging work of the Environmental Health and Safety Software Development Group. This article relates the experience of an EMIS development effort at Rhone-Poulenc, Inc.     

Using groupware to improve the EH&S audit documentation and reporting process

According to Fortune, as of early 1995, some 4,000 companies have purchased Lotus Notes®, the premier entry in an emerging field of software known as groupware. For many companies making the commitment, installation of the software has meant significant capital expenditures as wide area and local area networks and client-server hardware had to be installed to make effective use of Notes' capabilities nationwide and worldwide. A few companies are in the early stages of developing environmental, health, and safety management capabilities. At first blush, the EH&S audit document management process appears to be an ideal application for groupware. It is vitally important that audit tracking systems are put in place and operate effectively. This article shows how groupware can help to achieve this objective.     

Review of sustainability management initiatives within Finnish forest products industry companies—Translating Eu level steering into proactive initiatives

Sustainability has become a major focus area within forest products industry. The European operational environment and national environmental steering in EU member states highlight the importance of sustainable development and the development of associated new management approaches to promote sustainability. This article reviews some key elements of sustainability management, covering examples of both Finnish forest products industry initiatives and public environmental steering at the European level. An assessment is made of the current situation and an outline of a future outlook for sustainability management, with special emphasis on bridging the gap between industry initiatives and environmental steering in the form of legislation, policies and strategies at the EU level.This study applied a hybrid approach comprising a review of EU sustainability initiatives, a policy and legal review and a questionnaire survey of forest industry actors. The results of the future outlook indicate that energy efficiency is perceived to be the most important focus area in addition to e.g. environmental and waste management and recycling. Less than half of the companies aim at applying sustainability management. Life-cycle management is also considered to be important whereas product-based approaches, climate change and local industrial symbiosis receive very little attention. All responding companies aim to integrate the principles of sustainability into their operations and most companies consider that life-cycle thinking, management and assessment are useful for them. Energy efficiency is identified as the most important focus area with energy and materials efficiency seen as the most crucial factors for the achievement of responsible competitive advantage and building of sustainable value-added. The findings indicate that sustainability and life-cycle management are not receiving enough management focus at the moment and neither is the industry receiving enough guidance at either the EU level or via national steering and regulatory frameworks.     

Material Flow Analysis: A tool to support environmental policy decision making. Case-studies on the city of Vienna and the Swiss lowlands

This paper discusses the use of Material Flow Analysis (MFA) as a tool to support policy decision making in the field of resource and environmental management. In terms of policy, MFA can be used for early recognition, priority setting, to analyse and improve the effectiveness of measures and to design efficient material management strategies in view of sustainability. MFA has a high potential to be implemented as a guiding tool at the regional level, for example as part of a regional environmental management and audit system or as a part of the Local Agenda 21 process. Material management based on MFA is complementary to traditional environmental and resource management strategies, which have tended to focus heavily on specific environmental compartments, and measure the concentration of substances in various media. MFA, in contrast, provides an overview of the total system by linking the anthroposphere (that part of the biosphere in which humans' activities take place) with the environment. This system approach shifts the focus away from the back-end so-called 'filter strategies' to more pro-active front-end measures. MFA examines short- and long-term loadings rather than concentrations and highlights current and potential material accumulations, called material stocks. These stocks represent either potential environmental problems (e.g. large stocks of hazardous materials) or a potential source of future resources (e.g. urban mining). In this way, MFA can assist precautionary policy making by highlighting future environmental or resource issue problems without relying on signals of environmental stress. The objective of materials management is: firstly, to analyse material flows and stocks; secondly, to evaluate these results; and thirdly, to control material flows in view of certain goals such as sustainable development. MFA is an excellent tool for the first objective and is well suited to generate a base for the other two objectives. MFA results can be compared against environmental standards or can be interpreted using assessment or indicator methodologies (such as environmental impact assessment or ecological footprints). Selected results from two studies, carried out for the city of Vienna (substance management) and the Swiss lowlands (timber management), illustrate the use of MFA as a tool for early recognition (resource depletion and environmental quality), for priority setting and for effective policy making.     

Material Flow Analysis: a tool to support environmental policy decision making. Case-studies on the city of Vienna and the Swiss lowlands

This paper discusses the use of Material Flow Analysis (MFA) as a tool to support policy decision making in the field of resource and environmental management. In terms of policy, MFA can be used for early recognition, priority setting, to analyse and improve the effectiveness of measures and to design efficient material management strategies in view of sustainability. MFA has a high potential to be implemented as a guiding tool at the regional level, for example as part of a regional environmental management and audit system or as a part of the Local Agenda 21 process. Material management based on MFA is complementary to traditional environmental and resource management strategies, which have tended to focus heavily on specific environmental compartments, and measure the concentration of substances in various media. MFA, in contrast, provides an overview of the total system by linking the anthroposphere (that part of the biosphere in which humans' activities take place) with the environment. This system approach shifts the focus away from the back-end so-called 'filter strategies' to more pro-active front-end measures. MFA examines short- and long-term loadings rather than concentrations and highlights current and potential material accumulations, called material stocks. These stocks represent either potential environmental problems (e.g. large stocks of hazardous materials) or a potential source of future resources (e.g. urban mining). In this way, MFA can assist precautionary policy making by highlighting future environmental or resource issue problems without relying on signals of environmental stress. The objective of materials management is: firstly, to analyse material flows and stocks; secondly, to evaluate these results; and thirdly, to control material flows in view of certain goals such as sustainable development. MFA is an excellent tool for the first objective and is well suited to generate a base for the other two objectives. MFA results can be compared against environmental standards or can be interpreted using assessment or indicator methodologies (such as environmental impact assessment or ecological footprints). Selected results from two studies, carried out for the city of Vienna (substance management) and the Swiss lowlands (timber management), illustrate the use of MFA as a tool for early recognition (resource depletion and environmental quality), for priority setting and for effective policy making.     

Applying Ecological Risk Principles to Watershed Assessment and Management

Considerable progress in addressing point source (end of pipe) pollution problems has been made, but it is now recognized that further substantial environmental improvements depend on controlling nonpoint source pollution. A watershed approach is being used more frequently to address these problems because traditional regulatory approaches do not focus on nonpoint sources. The watershed approach is organized around the guiding principles of partnerships, geographic focus, and management based on sound science and data. This helps to focus efforts on the highest priority problems within hydrologically-defined geographic areas. Ecological risk assessment is a process to collect, organize, analyze, and present scientific information to improve decision making. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sponsored three watershed assessments and found that integrating the watershed approach with ecological risk assessment increases the use of environmental monitoring and assessment data in decision making. This paper describes the basics of the watershed approach, the ecological risk assessment process, and how these two frameworks can be integrated. The three major principles of watershed ecological risk assessment found to be most useful for increasing the use of science in decision making are (1) using assessment endpoints and conceptual models, (2) holding regular interactions between scientists and managers, and (3) developing a focus for multiple stressor analysis. Examples are provided illustrating how these principles were implemented in these assessments.     

Perspectives on corporate social responsibility in the chemical sector: A comparative analysis of the Mexican and South African cases

In recent years, the debate on corporate responsibility has shifted from a focus on environmental management towards a broader concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This article examines the chemical industry's approach to CSR from the perspective of two emerging economies: Mexico and South Africa. The global chemical industry was one of the first to respond to public concerns about environmental pollution, toxic waste and human health by adopting an industry‐wide code of practice, known as Responsible Care. This article examines the extent to which the chemical industry has responded to the broader debate on CSR. On the basis of a comparative case study, this article argues that the response to social issues by Mexican and South African chemical companies has tended to be limited to the ‘community awareness and emergency response’ (CAER) or community dialogue component of the international voluntary management framework, Responsible Care. Similarities and differences in regulatory and institutional conditions, as well as different levels of civil society engagement, reveal additional limitations for CSR, beyond that of the Responsible Care framework. This article argues that the socio‐political context influences the extent to which companies embrace CSR, especially in emerging economies, and highlights several challenges for the chemical industry in moving forward on CSR: credibility, stakeholder engagement, value‐chain accountability, disclosure and transparency. Reflecting on these challenges, the authors conclude by recommending a renewed focus on: (1) developing a broader set of CSR management practices beyond Responsible Care; (2) institutionalizing stronger accountability measures, such as reporting and verification; and (3) developing multi‐stakeholder partnerships that complement regulation and build public sector regulatory and guidance capacity.     

Corporate environmental excellence and stewardship: Five critical tasks of top management

One of the most important challenges facing business is shaping the role of senior management in corporate environmental performance. In some leading companies, the CEO or chairman takes the initiative to carefully define his or her role because of a strong personal commitment, a keen grasp of the business incentives, in response to past problems, or because of a combination of these. In other companies, even where corporate policies genuinely support and promote corporate environmental, health, and safety programs, there may still be inaction or reluctance on the part of top management to participate or get involved. This management posture may work for a few more years, but no longer than that—and could quickly become a major detriment to any company's ongoing market success or viability. This article will focus on a strategy for getting top management involved in your company's programs and, where they are already involved, for sharing some insights we have gained from our work with a number of companies where top management has taken a strong role in environmental issues and has established precedence for what can work well.     

‘The biggest challenge is that we have to tell people how to sort.’ Waste management and the processes of negotiation of environmental citizenship in Slovenia

ABSTRACT

This article departs from the concept of environmental citizenship. Focus is on the experiences of representatives for Slovenian municipal waste management companies and business sector service companies engaged in the collection and recycling of electronic waste, and their attempts to increase the amount of separately collected municipal waste. They do so by engaging the Slovenian citizens to undertake separate sorting. Theoretically, the focus is on the processes of negotiating citizen engagement and, more specifically, attempts to incentivise the separate sorting of municipal waste which, it is argued, also helps foster the image of a particular kind of citizen. This article understands the informants’ experiences as being intimately linked to, and constitutive of, contemporary waste management discourses where attention is increasingly paid to the activities and behaviours of individual citizens. Noteworthy, while the concept of environmental citizenship can be said to allow citizens to practise sustainability (a concept that is otherwise seemingly quite abstract), the waste management policies of today seem to be increasingly relying on this active citizenship. It is at the intersection of these phenomenon that the negotiation practices of Slovenian waste management authorities happen.     

Advisory Committee: A Powerful Tool for Helping Decision Makers in Environmental Issues

/ It has been suggested that the general public should be moreinvolved in environmental policy and decision making. It is important forthem to realize that they will have to live with the consequences ofenvironmental policies and decisions. Consequently, policy makers shouldconsider the concerns and opinions of the general public before makingdecisions on environmental issues. This raises questions such as: How can weintegrate the perceptions and reactions of the general population inenvironmental decisions? What kind of public participation should weconsider? In the present study, using a new regional ecosystem model, weattempted to integrate these aspects in its decision making model byincluding the formation of an advisory committee to resolve problems relatedto waste management. The advisory committee requested the activeparticipation of representatives from all levels of the community: economic,municipal, and governmental intervenors; environmental groups; and citizens.Their mandates were to examine different management strategies available inthe region, considering all the interdisciplinary aspects of each strategy,elaborate recommendations concerning the management strategies that are mostsuitable for all, and collaborate in communication of the information to thegeneral population. The results showed that at least in small municipalitiessuch an advisory committee can be a powerful tool in environmental decisionmaking. Conditions required for a successful consultation process, such aseveryday lay language and the presence of a facilitator other than ascientific expert, are discussed.KEY WORDS: Public consultation; Environmental policies;Interdisciplinary aspects; Municipal sewage sludge management; Generalpopulation; Decision-making process     

Using ISO 14000 for improved organizational learning and environmental management

Since the adoption of ISO 14001, companies have examined the standard and considered certification. Although the framework is useful and enhancing environmental management systems is beneficial, the adoption of ISO 14001 alone will not provide maximum company benefits. Companies must strive for an improvement in environmental performance and financial performance that can be accomplished only through significant changes in corporate culture, structure, and systems. By developing core capabilities such as skills and knowledge, physical technical systems, managerial systems, and values and norms, companies can develop organizational learning to increase sustainable competitive advantage. This article examines how the ISO 14000 series of standards can be used to improve organizational learning and environmental management.     

A forest and paper industry report comparing leading companies' key policy and expenditure issues

Environmental Information Services, Inc. (EIS) publishes detailed reports and offers custom research related to the full spectrum of environmental issues facing corporations. In this new article, EIS reports on the environmental performance, policies, and expenditures of the largest companies in the paper industry, focusing on toxic waste management, and a variety of key policy and expenditure issues. It is important to note that the following article does not contain data on hazardous waste management, penalties, spills, and Superfund sites. This, as well as additional policy and expenditure data, can be obtained from EIS. EIS reports help companies of all sizes benchmark their environmental performance and quality improvement efforts.