Residual material cost accounting

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Residual material cost accounting refers to a procedure for evaluating undesired co- products that arise in a business value creation process. In addition to solid waste, wastewater , exhaust air , waste heat and packaging are also included.

Origin and meaning

Due to increasing disposal costs for operational residues, the approach of the residual material cost calculation arose in the mid-1990s. A model project by Kunert AG in Immenstadt should point the company to a more efficient use of materials and thus to the reduction of operational residues. The costs caused by residues in companies can be divided into the following categories:

  • Costs of the production of residual materials (paid for, stored, transported and usually processed before they arise)
  • Costs of the disposal of residual materials (after treatment / processing, for example through "end-of-pipe" technologies , re-use in operation or resale to third parties)

Residual material costs represent a link between environmental protection and costs and are an expression of expenditure that does not add value, since they in no way make a product more valuable and are therefore not rewarded by the customer. The company, on the other hand, pays twice.

Action

In order to obtain transparency of the residual material flows, all material and energy flows must be presented in a general form. Residual material costs are then recorded as part of cost type accounting and offset in process and product balances. Important elements of residual material cost accounting:

  1. Recording of residual material costs
    • Determination of the residual material costs contained in the operating accounting sheet, including the costs for water and waste
    • Determination of residual material costs from asset accounting, d. H. Depreciation for environmental protection systems, wage and salary costs for employees to operate them
    • Determination of the residual material costs for material losses and scrap
  2. Allocation of costs to materials, cost centers and cost carriers as well as input materials
  3. Evaluation of the residual material costs

Since residual material cost calculations address several operational tasks and sub-areas, they have a wide range of applications. Together with the calculation for z. B. packaging management, yield optimization, quality and energy management, the residual material cost calculation can be summarized in a uniform cost accounting system.

Goals and benefits

When calculating residual material costs, a distinction must be made between plant and product-related environmental management. Residual material costs are determined for the plant-related environmental management , which is primarily concerned with the avoidance, recycling and disposal of residual materials, while the focus is on product-related design, material selection and return. The residual material cost calculation not only aims to reduce the amount of residual material, but also to use potential for cost reduction and environmental relief. It is therefore particularly suitable for illustrating the economic and ecological effects of an effective use of materials. With the transparency of costs, the residual material cost calculation is of great importance in the environmentally-oriented investment calculation of a company.

meaning

The practical relevance of the residual material cost calculation is particularly important for larger companies with higher and thus more cost-intensive quantities of residual material. However, due to better transparency and control options, many companies only carry out the calculation for individual residual material fractions. This is because the collection of quantities and costs and their allocation to cost centers and cost carriers requires such transparency, especially of resource consumption and emissions . Due to the high effort involved in recording, the required product and process balances can only be implemented if the structure is not too complex and the number of material flows is not too high. However, the material flow quantities are not explicitly calculated. Therefore, with a view to comprehensive environmental cost management, the focus should also be on ecological criteria that go beyond the flow quantities associated with operational residues.

See also

Environmental cost accounting
Sustainability management
Full cost accounting
Material flow cost accounting Flow cost accounting

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Residual material cost calculation . In: Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon
  2. ↑ a b c d Loew, Fichter, Müller, Schulz, Ströberl: Approaches to environmental cost accounting in comparison. Comparative assessment of approaches to environmental cost accounting for their suitability for operational practice and their contribution to ecological corporate management . Federal Environment Agency, Berlin 2003, pp. 71–78.
  3. ↑ Model project environmental cost management . Final report on the project of the same name at Kunert AG. Kienbaum Management Consulting, Institute for Management and Environment, Immenstadt 1995.
  4. ↑ a b Hartmut Fischer: Give residual materials the rest . In: Institute for ecological economic research [IÖW], Association for ecological economic research [VÖW] (Hrsg.): Ökologisches Wirtschaften . Environmental cost management. No. 6 . oekom, 2001, ISSN  1430-8800 , p. 14–15 ( oekologisches-wirtschaften.de [accessed June 5, 2012]).
  5. ↑ Current expenses for environmental protection in the manufacturing sector. 1996/97. Environment series 19, series 3.2. Federal Statistical Office, Stuttgart 2000, p. 46.
  6. ↑ a b T. Loew: No “one best way” in environmental cost management. In: Ecological Economy. 2001, No. 6, pp. 10-11.