ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS: A FOCUS FOR THEIR IDENTIFICATION, RECOGNITION AND DISCLOSURE

Abstract

In the present paper, the treatment and the study of environmental costs are due to the necessity of knowing the process for their identification, recognition and disclosure by the entities which, in one way or another, interact with the environment and need this information in order to better administrate and evaluate their performance in the environmental area. Thus, the study has aimed at discussing the identification, the ways of recognizing and the disclosure of the environmental costs as well as their importance in the process of the entities management. In order to do that, a qualitative approach of a cross using the method of case study. The company used was CVI Refrigerantes Ltda., based in the city of Santa Maria, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. A semi-structured interview was conducted with the company’s Budget and Cost Coordinator. The results showed that, despite the company identifying the environmental costs in a specific department, they are not part of a separate disclosure in order to show the effects of the environmental activity produced by the Company. Something else we noticed was the fact that the company seems to be unaware of the legislation regulating the environmental activity. We can see that, despite the researched company recognizing the costs of the environmental activity, it does not highlight them in its Traditional Financial Statements, which would be very relevant, as it would allow the users to really understand the company’s interaction with the environment.