Klasyfikacja i ujmowanie kosztów środowiskowych przedsiębiorstwa w sprawozdaniach zewnętrznych
Corporate environmental costs – classification and disclosures in external reports

Summary/Abstract: An increase in using environmental protection instruments in the national environmental policy results in companies being obliged to undertake pro-ecological activities which are necessary for reducing not only the effects of pollution but also its causes. However, this is related to whether or not companies have access to accurate environmental information about their influence on the environment. Above all, data on environmental costs are important as they are a basis for efficient and effective use of natural resources and prevention of environmental damage. Therefore, the paper aims to present: • interpretation of the corporate environmental costs definition; • information on how corporate environmental costs are included in the system of company’s cost accounting and methods of their classification on the basis of survey results; • ways of presenting environmental costs in corporate external reporting. The survey which was conducted within the project „Koszty ochrony środowiska w systemach rachunku kosztów przedsiębiorstw przemysłowych w Polsce” („Environmental protection costs in corporate cost accounting in Poland”) in 2008 targeted Pomeranian companies from various industries. The results indicate that the companies had many problems with the measurement, recording and division of environmental costs. This results from the lack of uniform solutions enabling the disclosure, evidence and evaluation of these costs. Therefore, environmental costs are mainly measured by the existing system of cost accounting, without isolating particular accounts.

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