全球智库信息集成服务系统

A multitude of theoretical and practical approaches to environmental cost accounting have been developed in the past 25 years. Until now, there have been diverging opinions in practice and in science concerning which of the approaches are particularly suitable for company practice and the goals of environmental cost management. The systematic comparison of the known approaches to environmental cost management and the examination of their applicability in practice led to the following results: Many companies associate the determination of company environmental protection costs with environmental cost accounting. This information has to be determined partly for statistical enquiry, and it also serves the companies as documentation in their environmental protection efforts. As a rule the determination of environmental protection costs is not sufficient to identify new possibilities for cost reduction. Operational material and energy flows have to be analyzed for this purpose. Flow cost accounting and residue cost accounting are suitable for this purpose. At least as important as the optimization of the cost accounting system is the consideration of environment aspects in investment decisions. The decision between different environmental systems will be one supported by the VDI 3800 proposed calculation. If however the decision concerns conventional investment in a new production plant, the associated flow costs and environmental effects are to be taken into consideration. In the case of large and long term investments, it should be taken into consideration whether relevant external costs could be associated with the expected environmental damage. If so, they should be considered in adequate scenarios. Based on the existing terms which have often been given different definitions, the study closes with a developed uniform system of terms and definitions.