March, 2022 | Environmental Debt

Setting the standard for reusable packaging

By Deonna Anderson in Green Biz

January 28, 2022

Amy Larkin and Claudette Juska, co-founders of PR3, previously worked together on transforming another global system, eliminating hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) from refrigeration. Their actions led to HFCs being included in the Montreal Protocol, the landmark agreement that regulates the production and consumption of nearly 100 man-made chemicals referred to as ozone depleting substances.

After their HFC work, the two went their separate ways, with Larkin consulting with global NGOs and multinational corporations on plastic policy and reduction of plastic. She said she was repeatedly part of conversations where the need for reuse came to the surface as a solution.

So, she started asking herself these questions about reuse: Where will the reusable containers go? Who’s going to store them? Who’s going to wash them? Who’s going to monitor them? Who’s going to redeliver them? Who’s going to inventory them? Who’s going to make sure all this labor takes place in just conditions?

That’s when it struck her that she wanted to take on another type of system change. So, she called Juska.

https://www.greenbiz.com/article/setting-standard-reusable-packaging

Method for measurement and evidencing of environmental debt (MEED) in productive systems

First published at Science Direct

Highlights

A compilation of the methods for measuring environmental externalities is obtained from a systematic literature review process.
A new method is proposed to measurement and evidencing of environmental debt.
The method is tested in the broiler production in Brazil.
The method provides information on the real value of the business, considering the environmental result.

Responsible use of natural resources is an important social and political issue, and as such, it is an essential factor in business decision-making. In this scenario, accounting practices need to include valuation and analysis of external costs and environmental debts as part of the information available to decision-makers. Therefore, this study focuses on proposing a method to measure and evidence the Environmental Debt (ED) of a productive system. For this purpose, Design Science Research was used to conduct the research. Its main result makes possible to propose the Measurement and Evidencing of Environmental Debt Method (MEED). The method was developed from a combination of resources identified in the literature, propositions of research groups, from consulting market methods and international organizations involved with the recognition of prices of natural resources. The results of applying MEED reveal the valuation and disclosure of external costs and environmental obligations from the internalization of environmental externalities related to the primary objective of accounting, namely, valuation of equity. The method was