ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the case studies which offer general lessons about how to assess and manage environmental costs. Ciba-Geigy has a single, fully integrated general ledger system in use at all sites throughout the world. Environmental accounting is much more than green 'bean counting'. The conventional accounting distinction between fixed and variable costs can lead to some confusion about the 'controllability' of environmental costs. For the agricultural pesticide, over 19% of manufacturing costs are deemed 'environmental'. The chapter looks at the Insect Control business of the North American Consumer Products division of S.C. Johnson Wax, one of the leading providers of chemical speciality products for the home and workplace. More complex corporations, decisions made in one part of the organisation frequently create environmental costs elsewhere in the company. Quantifying environmental savings more precisely justified some projects that might otherwise have been rejected and strengthened the hand of in-house pollution prevention advocates.
