Analysis of the application of environmental management accounting in a salt industry

Environmental management accounting has acquired great importance in the administrative sphere of organizations. However, it is still striking and visible that many companies have neglected its application, investing more in the purely financial aspect, putting environmental issues in the background. Most of these organizations, especially those in the industrial sector, are considered to be most responsible for environmental impacts. Environmental accounting is a branch of traditional accounting, but it is not an obligation required by the government, but a valued tool used by managers who have a strategic vision of caring for nature, focused on sustainability. As for the purpose of this article, it consists of knowing whether the analyzed industry is aware of the importance of environmental management accounting, as well as whether it uses it in the administrative process. As a methodology, a case study was carried out in a company in the salt industry located in the city of grossos/RN. With regard to the chart of accounts model adopted by the company, as well os its budget, it was found that there is no separation between the traditional accounts (assets, liabilities, expenses, revenue and cost) and the environmental accounts (environmental assets, environmental liability, environmental expense, environmental revenue and environmental cost). At the end of the research, it was possible to verify that the salt industry studied, despite assigning an enormous degree of importance to the application of environmental management accounting in organizations, does not use it in the management process of its businesses.