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Environmental footprint 
is the impact that a business's activities have on the environment, including its 
resource environment and pollution emissions. 
At an individual firm or business level, environmental impact can be measured in terms of environmental 
costs in various areas. Much business activity takes place at some cost to the environment. Examples of 
impacts on the environment include: 

Depletion of natural resources 

Noise and aesthetic impacts 

Residual air and water emissions 

Long-term waste disposal (exacerbated by excessive product packaging) 

Uncompensated health effects 

Change in the local quality of life (through for example the impact of tourism) 
CASE STUDY 
Plastic shopping bags are widely recognised as a blight on the environment. Supermarkets now charge 
customers for plastic bags, in an attempt to: 

Encourage customers to reduce their bag usage by changing from single use carrier bags to 
reusable bags 

Raise monies for environmental projects to counterbalance the adverse impact of the bags and 
other aspects of supermarket operations
 
10.3 Impact on organisation of environmental costs 
In addition, an IFAC report listed a large number of costs that a business might suffer internally. 
Direct or indirect environmental costs 

Waste 
management 

Remediation costs or expenses 

Compliance 
costs 

Permit 
fees 

Environmental 
training 

Environmentally driven research and development 

Environmentally related maintenance 

Legal costs and fines 

Environmental 
assurance 
bonds 

Environmental certification and labelling 

Natural resource inputs 

Record keeping and reporting