Environmental Management Accounting and Albanian Perspectives

Abstract

In the global economy where companies are in a rough competition to rationalize and improve all the resources and processes for a more convenient product, many companies are using the Environmental Management Accounting.

Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) manage the environment and economic performance of the companies through the development of appropriate strategic planning which includes the costs and benefits of the full life-cycling of the products from their inputs, such as water, minerals , the process of production in aspects of calculation of waste and emissions costs and the finally the end-life of the product weather it will have environmental effects or will be environmentally friendly.EMA is widely used to have a more wide view in the evaluation of business performances and their impacts on the environment, by taking in consideration the “external costs” for which companies are not always legally responsible such as environmental expenditures .  The aim of EMA is the contribution towards a sustainable growth .

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the opportunities of EMA appliance in Albania and the challenges that the EMA presents for the Albanian accountants and businesses.

Key words: EMA, external costs, environmental costs, life-cycling costs .