Problem
Lack of full cost accounting of consumer products
Other Names:
Hidden transport component of consumer productsInsufficient environmental auditing of production costs
Background:
The "polluter pays" principle states that the cost of measures decided by authorities to ensure that the environment is in an acceptable state should be reflected in the cost of goods and services which cause pollution in production and/or consumption. Incidence:
So called "environmental products" or "environmentally-friendly products" may actually harmful when hidden environmental costs are factored in. A German study calculated that a theoretical fully-laden 34-tonne food truck travels about 1 kilometre to transport the items in an average supermarket trolley. One container of a particular strawberry yoghurt required the equivalent truck to travel around 10 metres. This hidden environmental impact of such a healthy food product is measured in terms of transport fuel used, effects of transport systems on health, air pollution, noise, potential accidents, road congestion and so on. Broader Problems:
Imperfect accountingIneffective industry self-regulationInadequate environmental impact assessmentLack of environmental accounting in businessInadequate evaluation of environmental costs Narrower Problems:
Insufficient recycling of glassLack of social accounting in the business community Related Problems:
Incorrect labellingUnconstrained exploitation of natural resources Aggravates:
Electronic wasteEnergy inefficient lifestylesCounterproductive eco-labellingUnsustainable energy consumptionInadequate environmental awarenessIncrease in product transport distancesNon-destructible containers and packagingEnvironmental hazards from manufacturing industries Strategies:
Recycling glassRecycling glassRecycling materialsRevealing hidden transport component of consumer productsRevealing hidden transport component of consumer productsRecycling metalsProviding full cost accounting of consumer products Subject(s):
Amenities → ConsumersCommunication → Communications
Commerce → Accounting
Commerce → Purchasing, supplying
Industry → Production
Industry → Products
Industry → Metal products
Societal Problems → Scarcity
Environment → Environment
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
F: Fuzzy exceptional problems Date of last update
16.02.1999 – 00:00 CET